Thursday 5th May, 2011, 5.00pm
Seminar Room 4, New Arts Building

Afghanistan: Why are we there? What are we doing? Can we succeed?

Seminar by
Major General John G. Lorimer, DSO MBE

Bio

Major General John Lorimer was born in 1962 and was educated at Marlborough College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read Arabic and Islamic Studies. He joined the Army in 1981 and was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment. Early service included commanding at platoon, company and battalion levels, including in Belize, Norway, Northern Ireland and Iraq. On the staff side, he served in the Ministry of Defence from 1998-2000 and completed 2 tours at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood. He commanded 12 Mechanized Brigade from June 2005 – November 2007, completing operational tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was promoted to Major General in November 2010 and has been selected to command 3 (United Kingdom) Division from June this year.


Abstract

Major General Lorimer will examine the strategic rationale for our engagement in Afghanistan, giving an overview of the nature of operations on the ground, focusing on the relationship between military, political and stabilisation activity. He will offer an appraisal of the progress and challenges that exist, particularly in Southern Afghanistan and a summary of what success might look like. He will also discuss the challenges of communicating the key themes to the British public.