Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

5th June 2015

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Why learning English is easy and fun

I have the privilege and honour to work as a British diplomat.  That means I spend a lot of time learning foreign languages. Before each of my last five postings (in Vienna, Moscow, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul) I spent between four weeks and nine months on intensive language preparations. If you want to understand a […]

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5th June 2015

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

Like a bird

A rewarding part of being a diplomat is celebrating bilateral co-operation.  It’s a joy to see a common interest bringing together people from two countries.  Some of the best examples are from non-state organisations. Last week, I visited one of Belarus’ jewels, the Belavezhskaya Pushcha, some of the most ancient woodland left in Europe.  The […]

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5th June 2015 Beirut, Lebanon

Tom Fletcher

by Tom Fletcher

Former British Ambassador to Lebanon

TECH, TALENT, A BROKEN TREADMILL (AND MAJOR TOM)

Last month, we launched the UK Lebanon Tech Hub. You can see a clip of a drone delivering my speech – for the first and last time, I can suggest that Enrique Iglesias take note. I normally try to write speeches while running. Jogging with bodyguards makes me look like the poor man’s slow Madonna, […]

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5th June 2015

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Helping Christians in Iraq

One of the benefits of being accredited to the Holy See is the possibility of listening and speaking to people from across the global Catholic Church who visit Rome to do business at the Vatican. This is useful for the UK, because I can often glean information not available elsewhere in our foreign policy network, […]

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4th June 2015

Paul Brummell, British Ambassador to Romania

by Paul Brummell

Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department, Communication Directorate

Great Britons supporting the disabled in Romania

Two events on successive days last week demonstrated again to me the important role which Great Britons working with Romanian counterparts in the civil society sector are playing in supporting groups and communities in need of help, in these cases young people coping with disabilities. On Friday I made my second visit to Galati, on […]

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4th June 2015 Havana, Cuba

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by Tim Cole

Former British Ambassador to Cuba

‘El Cubano de la Uni’

This is the third in a series of blogs by Cubans who received Chevening scholarships and have studied or are studying in the UK. This week, Carlos Rangel Irola writes about his experiences, studying an MSc in Finance and Banking at the University of Essex in Colchester. Thanks to Carlos for this great blog! Don’t expect this story to […]

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4th June 2015 Geneva, Switzerland

by Julian Braithwaite

Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva

Mobilising the United Nations to Save Modern Medicine

With our televisions screens filled by images of seemingly endless civil wars, spiralling sectarian horror, and rising humanitarian misery, many have concluded that the international system is failing, even broken. Yet on 25 May an event took place that tells a different story. One that gives hope to all those who believe that the United […]

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