Paul Burton

Paul Burton is Director of Policy at The Senlis Council in London. The Senlis Council is an international security and development think tank founded in 2002 with offices in Kabul, London, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris. It also has field offices in the Afghan cities of Lashkar Gah and Kandahar.

Prior to joining The Senlis Council, he spent a year at BAE Systems in their Market Intelligence Unit, monitoring the competitive landscape in the defence technology sphere and hosting a series of strategic reviews on key European procurement programmes.

Between 2000 and 2006, Mr Burton worked at the Country Risk department of Jane’s Information Group, initially as Asia Editor and then as Managing Editor. He served as editor on various publications, including Jane’s Intelligence Review, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Foreign Report and Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessments.

He developed an expertise in Afghanistan and Pakistan throughout his time at Jane’s, frequently serving as media spokesman and making regular appearances on BBC, CNN and Channel Four News.

Between 1998 and 2000, Mr Burton worked as Chief Researcher for Sir Menzies Campbell MP, the UK Liberal Democrats’ Foreign Affairs and Defence Spokesman. He undertook speech-writing and research activities, whilst running Sir Menzies’ London office.

Mr Burton has an MA in US Studies from the Institute of the Americas, University of London, and a BA (Hons) in Politics from Portsmouth University.

Media

Mr Burton is a regular commentator on South Asian security issues, making frequent appearances on BBC Radio 4, Al-Jazeera and Channel Four News among others.

On 29 July 2008, he appeared live on [http://www.senliscouncil.net/static/radio/080730_PB_KCRW-ToThePoint.mp3 KCRW’s "To the Point"] alongside former senior US counter narcotics official Thomas Schweich to debate the use of aerial eradication of Afghanistan’s opium fields.

He also spoke to [http://www.senliscouncil.net/static/radio/080706_PB_BBC_Radio4_PM.mp3 BBC Radio 4’s " PM"] about the attack on the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan in July. In addition, [http://www.newsweek.com/id/145071 Newsweek] published a major Q&A with Mr Burton on the ramifications of these attacks.

In June, he joined a discussion on Al Jazeera’s "Inside Story" which focused on the Afghan Donor Conference in Paris. For part 1, click [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJshHomYN8 here] . For part 2, click [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwdjIsSfpPQ here] .

Reports

Mr Burton has edited and written four major reports by The Senlis Council since July 2007:

* [http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/Afghanistan_on_the_brink Stumbling into Chaos: Afghanistan on the Brink (November 2007)]
* [http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/Decision_Point Afghanistan - Decision Point 2008 (January 2008)]
* [http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/chronic_failures_war_terror Chronic Failures in the War on Terror - From Afghanistan to Somalia (April 2008)]
* [http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/iraq_angry_hearts Iraq - Angry Hearts and Angry Minds (June 2008)]

External links

* [http://www.senliscouncil.net The Senlis Council]
* [http://www.baesystems.com BAE Systems]
* [http://www.janes.com Jane's Information Group]
* [http://www.libdems.org.uk Liberal Democrats]
* [http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulburtonkraltd LinkedIn profile]