In November 2004, Professor Malcolm Chalmers conducted an evaluation of the UK government’s support for the Ugandan Defence Review. High level officials from the Ugandan government, Ugandan military and the UK High Commission were interviewed for the work, which was carried out jointly with Brigadier (Retd.) Dick Baly, CBE and presented in December 2004.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers was one of a 12-member team contracted to evaluate the UK’s precedent setting Conflict Prevention Pools. Established as a mechanism for promoting ‘joined-up’ policy making on conflict prevention and reduction measures, this is a cross-departmental initiative linking the Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development, responsible for spending in the region of £500m per year). This project involved interviews with over 500 Ministers and officials, a review of around 2000 internal government documents, and frequent meetings with the evaluation's management committee, chaired by the Cabinet Office. The results of the evaluation were published by the Government in July 2004.

MENA Implementation

In March 2004, CICS was contracted to assist the HMG's Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Strategy Team to develop an implementation plan for the revised strategy. The team, led by Owen Greene with support from Tim Heath, subsequently provided assistance and advice in a range of areas, including advice and consultation on specific project and programme proposals for 2004/5 and on overall priorities and procedures; assistance with the management and administration of the strategy; and a full report providing recommendations for programmes and projects to implement the revised strategy over the coming years. In the course of the project, Owen Greene made an extensive number of visits to the EU and a number of embassies in the Middle East and North African region.