21st May 2012
The Olympic flame arrived in Britain last week ready for the London 2012 Olympics. It is now on a journey round the British Isles that will take it within reach of the vast majority of the country’s population. The message is clear: Sport for All. The flame was lit in Ancient Olympia where the tradition of […]
7th May 2012
What’s the collective noun for Ambassadors? A canapé of diplomats? A gang? A horde? Or just a corps? Hopefully not a corpse! Perhaps a Cocktail of Ambassadors, but that risks feeding the erroneous perception of diplomats as pleasure-seeking, gin-and-tonic swilling, expense-account nonentities. Which is far from the truth. Google failed to provide an answer. Most […]
23rd April 2012
The Jordanian parliament is debating a new law to regulate political parties. The law is part of a package of measures to implement the government’s commitment to political reform. The long term aim is to meet His Majesty’s vision of a small number of parties with programmes based on ideology to the right, left and […]
12th April 2012
Some people think that diplomats spend much of their time eating and drinking. If only they knew how much time is spent answering emails and managing budgets. But certainly lunches and dinners are among the essential tools that a diplomat uses to get to know people and to understand the country he or she is […]
1st April 2012
The Embassy’s Communications manager, Rana Nejem came back from London last week after accompanying four journalists from Jordan and Palestine to London. The feedback she got from them was so positive, that it seemed the perfect theme for a guest blog: “I cannot say it is a dream come true because I never even dreamed this […]
25th March 2012
“… but not a drop to drink” said the old sailor adrift on the unforgiving ocean. There’s been plenty of water in Jordan in the last 3 months. Raindrops kept falling on our heads and we even had a weekend of snow in Amman. We should be happy because the dams are filling up. Maybe […]
12th March 2012
Unemployment has long been high on the agenda of governments all round the world. The biggest challenge is how country can make itself competitive and play to its strengths. Education has a key role in preparing young people for the jobs market. So how can schools and universities ensure that they are offering the courses and […]
27th February 2012
Many people will have seen the news of Wednesday’s EU-Jordan Task Force at the Dead Sea and will no doubt have been pleased by the announcement of €3 billion of financial aid. But what was this event really about? And why was it important? Understanding Europe’s unique mix of policies, legislation and diplomacy has never […]
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13th February 2012
The backbone of any democracy is an independent, professional and responsible media. Their role is to inform, criticise and stimulate debate. So how can the media be encouraged to step up to this vital role? One initiative launched a few years ago by the UK’s Thomson Foundation – and funded by the British Embassy – is […]
23rd January 2012
As has been widely reported, King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators together for the first time in 16 months. They have held three meetings in Amman choreographed by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. Comments in the international press have seen a wide range of optimism, pessimism and cynicism. It’s easy to be pessimistic […]