8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
17th October 2024
OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
7th October 2015 London, UK
Sri Lanka: talking about a resolution
For those of you who don’t know Sri Lanka, it’s a beautiful country – with world-class national parks, world heritage sites and pristine tropical beaches. But it is also haunted by a traumatic past, a devastating twenty-six year civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the government that ended in 2009. Some of the stories […]
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7th October 2015 Mumbai, India
IPEX-2015 in Chennai
Last month, I spoke at the 6th edition of the IPEX-2015 conference in Chennai from 25-26 September. This meeting, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, brought together thought leaders from the government, industry, and academia. Through my talk, I shared the UK’s best practices in intellectual property (IP) prosecution and enforcement. On prosecution, I […]
6th October 2015 London, UK
FCO Human Rights and Democracy Programme: Promoting Ethno-Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka
Slowly but increasingly surely, Sri Lanka is becoming a human rights success story. This is primarily due to the determination of its people and the courage of its recently elected leaders (see the British High Commission’s blog). But the international community, responding to our Prime Minister’s lead, has played a significant role, including through the […]
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6th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Postcards from the Western Balkans
Remember the days when the tiny closed state of Albania was known from Orwellian Radio Tirana broadcasts picked up on a crackly short wave radio? Although things are very different now Albania remains a relatively rare destination for British visitors, so on my first visit I made sure to find postcards for my family. My […]
5th October 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Turning the page
Just before the session began, someone told me about Mike the chicken who somehow managed to survive for 18 months despite being headless. There’s been more than a few times over the last year and a half when I’ve known how he felt. The demands of trying to work with a young family and badly […]
5th October 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Milan Expo and How Governments Promote Trade and Prosperity
I’ve just spent the weekend at the Milan Expo. Over a hundred countries showcasing themselves in a tradition of world fairs that stretches back to the nineteenth century and the “first World Expo” at Crystal Palace in 1851. The most expensive pavilion was the UAE extravaganza, coming in at allegedly just shy of £100 million. […]
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5th October 2015 New Delhi, India
India celebrates some classic flavours of British food & beverage
Food lovers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru got a bite of some authentic British favourites prepared by Indian celebrity Chef Ajay Chopra at Godrej’s Nature’s Basket (GNB) outlets in their cities. Having spent a good number of years in the UK, Chef Ajay Chopra gets down to doing what he does best – making some […]
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4th October 2015 London, UK
Guest blog: Farewell from Edward Hobart
I arrived in the UAE in 2011, not long after the Global Financial Crisis, with many questions unanswered about the future of Dubai’s economic model. The recovery has exceeded most expectations (though His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum sets his own extraordinarily high standards – see below). It has been a privilege in […]
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2nd October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
PROMOTING THE UK OVERSEAS TERRITORIES IN THE CARIBBEAN AND BEYOND
Question: What do you call a meeting of British Overseas Territories’ Caribbean Governors? Caribguvs…. Britguvs…..? Unlike CHOGM ( Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting), with a convenient shorthand, no acronym seems to roll off the tongue so easily. But nonetheless the Governors of the five Caribbean Territories – Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and […]
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2nd October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Turkey: media freedom, stability and prosperity
A politically motivated protest outside a newspaper office results in physical damage and intimidation. Politicians and media make threats against specific individuals. Days later, one of those individuals – Ahmet Hakan, a prominent journalist – is physically attacked, and hospitalised. These developments are wrong in themselves. They are also terrible for Turkey’s image overseas; and […]
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