29th May 2011
Last night’s Champions’ League final saw some of the best football this year. It flowed, the passing and the tactics were clever and the goals were a spectacular display of individual skill and talent. Barcelona clearly deserved to win playing some superb attractive attacking football. In Amman I saw lots of Barcelona flags and a […]
19th May 2011
I was in London last week and had the honour to attend the meeting between His Majesty and David Cameron. They had 45 minutes together. The press reported that they talked about “bilateral ties and regional developments”. I’m glad to say that it was a lot more interesting than that. So what does this rather […]
19th May 2011
كنت في لندن الاسبوع الماضي و تشرفت بحضور الاجتماع الذي عقد بين جلالة الملك ودي حيث كان مدة لقائهم 45 دقيقة. ذكرت الصحف أنهم ناقشوا "العلاقات الثنائية والتطورات الاقليمية" و يسعدني أن أقول بأن الاجتماع كان أكثر إثارة من ذلك. فماذا تعني حقا هذه العبارة المستخدمة بإفراط؟ بالطبع كان هناك أشياء كثيرة للحديث عنها. فقد […]
3rd May 2011
Royal Weddings don’t come round very often. So when they do, it is worth trying to do something special. The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London last Friday deserved a special party and we were keen to celebrate it with Jordanians. So we launched a competition for engaged couples to come and […]
14th April 2011
كلمة "الكرامة" كلمة نسمعها كثيرا في العالم العربي في الوقت الراهن. سمعناها في تونس في شهر كانون الاول وفي ميدان التحرير في القاهرة في شهر كانون الثاني كما أننا نسمعها في ليبيا وسوريا الآن. الكرامة جزء أساسي من الثقافة العربية. و الكلمة في طبيعة الحال تحمل معنى مختلف لكل شخص، ولكنها كانت في قلب الأحداث […]
13th April 2011
A word we hear a lot in the Arab world at the moment is “dignity”. We heard it in Tunisia in December and in Tahrir Square in Cairo in January. And we are hearing it in Libya and Syria now. Dignity is a fundamental foundation of Arab culture. The word of course means different things […]
27th March 2011
هناك اعتقاد شائع بأن حياة الدبلوماسي هي حياة ترف واسترخاء: شوكولاتة فيريرو روشيه وحفلات الكوكتيل. و يا ليت كان ذلك صحيحا. إن أحد جوانب عملنا في الخارج و الذي نادرا ما يراه الآخرين هو الجهد الذي نبذله في تعلم اللغات. وفوق كل الدراسة فإنه علينا أن نتقدم للامتحان. نعم، حتى السفير يجب أن يخضع للامتحانات: […]
27th March 2011
There is a popular perception that a diplomat’s life is one of luxury and relaxation: all Ferrero Rocher and cocktail parties. If only that were true. One aspect of our work abroad that is rarely seen is the effort we put into learning languages. And on top of studies, we have to take exams. Yes, […]
10th March 2011
One of the most stimulating aspects of working abroad is experiencing different cultures and traditions. Different religions, histories and languages produce different ways of handling both daily challenges and major events. There can be few greater events in a person’s life than marriage. So I was delighted to be invited to take part in a […]