Dominic Meiklejohn

Part of UK in USA [New York]

5th March 2010 New York, USA

Lord Mandelson on Globalisation

Two major themes for this week.  Lord Mandelson spoke at New York University on the financial crisis and what it means for globalisation.  And we’re celebrating Wales Week.
 
Lord Mandelson first.  The speech is well worth reading in full, but, from what people told me afterwards, the points which resonated were:
 
– globalisation is a fact.  The financial crisis underlined the degree of countries’ interdependence through open markets.
– getting regulation of the financial sector right is critically important.  Any country needs a strong banking sector lending to companies to allow them to grow.
– our approach to regulation had to be international- it was not helpful to have countries competing against each other in financial sector regulation.
– the G20 was the right forum to agree  a way forward on regulating the financial sector.
 
That’s the high policy.  The Consulate’s role is finding the right venue and forum for delivering the message and, in that regard, I should mention how great it is to work with a partner like New York University.  We’ve run a few events with them and they are just a wonderful institution with which to work.
 
We also work closely with our Welsh Assembly Government colleagues, who have a very active operation in New York.  For Wales Week USA we are hosting a reception for Welsh composer Karl Jenkins OBE, who is playing Carnegie Hall on 6 March.
 
A couple of other cultural items this week, showcasing British artistic talent at the Consul-General’s Residence: Susan Collis, who has been commissioned to create the visual identity for the 2010 Armory Show (a major art event in New York); and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, appearing at the Lincoln Center.
 
Next week: something about philantyhropy and a major British project in New York.

About Dominic Meiklejohn

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise…

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. After working for the European Community Department, I learned Polish and began a posting at the British Embassy Warsaw, where I headed the British Know How Fund for Poland (1993-96). In 1997, I worked for the OSCE Mission in Albania, before heading up the India team in the South Asian Department of the FCO. In 2000, I was posted as First Secretary to the British Embassy Warsaw, with a particular focus on European Union issues in the run-up to Poland’s accession to the EU. In 2003, I returned to the UK as Deputy Head of the Environment Policy Department. From 2004-2005, I led the FCO’s Knowledge Management Programme. During this period, I led two deployments of the FCO’s Consular Rapid Deployment Team– to Sri Lanka, after the tsunami in 2004 and to Pakistan, after the earthquake in 2005. From 2006-2007, I served as Deputy Consul-General, Basra, Iraq. From June 2007 I worked with the FCO’s Change Unit.

I took up my current appointment on 22 January 2008. My wife Joanne and I are the proud parents of Olivia. Outside of the office, I cycle around Manhattan, play soccer (football) and, when parenting duties allow, enjoy the cultural riches offered by New York. I try hard to understand baseball.

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