1st October 2026
A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
24th October 2016 Singapore
Trending on Facebook – how the Prosperity Fund is helping to improve the business environment in Vietnam
We are half-way through the financial year and the South East Asia Prosperity Fund projects are now all in the delivery phase. To get up to speed on what is happening on the ground, British Embassy Hanoi has launched a social media campaign to share with us updates on this year’s Prosperity Fund projects. The […]
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21st October 2016 Vienna, Austria
Edmund de Waal: During the Night
A man awakes from a nightmare in the depths of the night. He writes down his fears and illustrates them with a painting. 500 years later, another artist is inspired by the painting to gather together a collection of historical objects, images and treasures from one of the finest collections in the world to “explore […]
21st October 2016 Kolkata, India
Another football
One of the surprises of Kolkata for me has been to discover how keen Kolkatans are on sport, and how many sports are played in and around the city. I knew that Kolkata is the home of one of the world’s great cricket grounds – Eden Gardens. As I expected, there is huge interest in […]
20th October 2016 Holy See
Can freedom of religion help counter violent extremism?
I am back in London this week with the Holy See’s Monsignor Antoine Camilleri for the Foreign Office’s conference on how freedom of religion and belief can help counter violent extremism. The discussion has been persuasive. I was particularly struck by the following points. US Ambassador Saperstein argued that you cannot have stability without religious […]
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19th October 2016 Vienna, Austria
What really happens at the IAEA General Conference: Kraftwerk explain
So what really happens at a General Conference of the IAEA – the International Atomic Energy Agency? Delegates from 168 countries converge on the HQ of the IAEA in Vienna. They hold many meetings; and, after a week, most of them return to their countries. But why? It’s always difficult explaining what diplomats do. It’s […]
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18th October 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
FCO Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism: How Freedom of Religion or Belief can help
Violent extremism is of course nothing new, but today we are confronted by the rapid growth of a particular form of it which is linked by its perpetrators to the tenets of one of the world’s great religions, Islam. It is worth just pausing for a moment to consider that violent extremism is not new, […]
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17th October 2016 London, UK
Hurricane Matthew: UK rapid response in Haiti
What happens when one of the smallest UK missions globally is preparing for a long delayed election and gets hit beforehand by a Force 4 hurricane? We found out last week. Preparing for elections which we hoped would deliver a stable government, we were pushed into full crisis mode with the approach of the strongest […]
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17th October 2016 London, UK
UK music: a global leader
Great Britain is a global frontrunner in almost every genre of music. In rock, pop, classical, opera, folk, grime, punk, electronica, techno, blues, country, hip hop, jazz, reggae, R&B, alternative and heavy metal, the UK tops the charts. The language of British music crosses boundaries and borders. Our music creates emotional ties asking very little […]
17th October 2016 Science and Innovation Network
Self driving cars: Removing the roadblocks
In the global race to develop self driving cars, both Singapore and the UK are in the running. For Singapore, smart cars are part of the Smart Nation future. What better example of a technology that can enhance the lives of citizens, and make smarter use of city infrastructure, than autonomous vehicles? It is no […]
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14th October 2016 Kolkata, India
Spirit of place
I hosted my first adda last week. An adda is a very Bengali event – it’s a meeting of a group of people to talk about a particular subject. I attended one on my second day in Kolkata organised by the British Council colleagues for the British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith who was visiting […]