26th February 2026
Different Memories, Shared Futures: Why Inclusive Remembrance Matters for Serbia and the Region
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
22nd December 2025
Continuing to grow the global alliance for women and girls
17th December 2025
MAKING LIFE SAFER, FOR EVERYONE
21st April 2016 Paris, France
50 days to Euro 2016!
Today marks 50 days until the start of the European Championships in France, and as kick off draws nearer the excitement is really starting to grow. The international friendly matches over Easter provided us with a taste of how each team’s preparations were coming along. And in just a few weeks – once the domestic season is done […]
21st April 2016 London, UK
UK Ambassador to the UAE on the occasion of The Queen’s 90th Birthday
Your Highness[es], Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen: welcome – from me and from my wife Kasia – to our goodly manor, this towered citadel, for this celebration of the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A particular and very big thank you to you, Your Highness Sheikh Nahayyan bin Mubarak Al Nahayyan, and to […]
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20th April 2016 New Delhi, India
Linking climate research to policy: a regional dialogue
I was privileged to attend the dissemination event of DFID’s CRISSA (Climate Research and Information Services in South Asia) programme which remains close to my heart due to my role in programme managing it during my short stint with the DFID’s South Asia Research Hub in 2012-13. As I spent two full days sitting back […]
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19th April 2016 Canberra, Australia
April in Australia: Autumn and anniversaries
It’s Autumn in Canberra. The view from my window looking out towards the Brindabellas is one of grey skies and multi-coloured trees. The cockatoos are out in force, squawking around the place. For the first time, this all feels familiar. That’s because it’s been a year since we arrived in Australia, landing in Canberra to […]
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14th April 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
CRISP : gathering the innovators of tomorrow
Congratulations to our two Sri Lankan Chevening CRISP fellows for 2016, Gayani Abeyasinghe and Balathasan Sayanthan, who are about to start their three month programme at the Saïd Business School in Oxford. This is the second year that Sri Lanka has been part of CRISP, a fellowship aimed at mid-career professionals from India and Sri […]
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14th April 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Shakespeare at the Vatican: family, mercy and a red hat
How could the British embassy to the Holy See contribute to the Shakespeare 400th anniversary this year? There is an extraordinary programme of official events organised under the Shakespeare Lives banner, but the Vatican was not an obvious element. And although the Royal Shakespeare Company had performed Shakespearean excerpts before Pope Paul VI in 1964, the […]
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14th April 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Visit to the Republic of Karelia, a Russian region full of rich culture and tourism opportunities
My latest regional visit in the North West Federal District of Russia took me to the city of Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia. Petrozavodsk is 430 km north of St Petersburg. There is a good train connection between the cities. The Republic of Karelia is a beautiful part of Russia, full of forests, lakes […]
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13th April 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
#AdiosIstanbul 3: favourite longer walks – and happiness
How to be happy? Someone wrote that it’s all about (i) nature; (ii) other people; and (iii) exercise. That sounds about right to me. So what could make you happier than nature walking in a group? My recent blog #AdiosIstanbul 2 mentioned independent hiking group “Hiking Istanbul”. The aim of the slightly British-flavoured project is […]
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11th April 2016 San Francisco, USA
FUNDING: Digging into Data Challenge
A number of national government science funding agencies, including the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences are partnering in the Trans-Atlantic Platform 2016 Digging into Data Challenge (T-AP DiD). Digging into Data is a grant competition […]
11th April 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Congratulations Beşiktaş!
The new “Vodafone Arena” is magnificent. The location is world class. How did it happen? Since 2013 I have often walked past the site of magnificent new Beşiktaş stadium. I watched with fascination as the old stadium was demolished; a huge hole in the ground appeared; and the new stadium arose. Every month or two, […]