4th October 2024
World Space Week – Celebrating the Partnership between the UK and Australia
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
23rd October 2020 Vienna, Austria
Diplomatic lessons 1, 1979-83: Don’t judge a book by its cover
I’m delivering an online apprenticeship talk to staff in Vienna when someone asks me if I’ve thought of summarising everything I’ve learned in my 41-year career. ‘No,’ I say. They urge me to think again. So here is the first of several blogs seeking to distil a few lessons. Comments welcome. 3 October 1979 My […]
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23rd October 2020 London, UK
The Foreign Office and the creation of the UN
Pub quiz question: where was the first meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly held? Answer: London, in the Methodist Central Hall on 10 January 1946. London features heavily in early UN history. The Security Council met for the first time in Church House, Westminster, the following week. Church House was also the location for […]
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23rd October 2020
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The UN at 75
Amongst many less pleasant events, 2020 also marks the much happier 75th year since the founding of the United Nations, and a series of commemorations is being held throughout the year. I congratulate UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ingrid Macdonald, and all of the UN staff for their open-ended commitment to BiH’s citizens, […]
23rd October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia
Sir Mick Jagger and the Art of Negotiation
This week stories about negotiations have been prominent in the media both in the UK and in Serbia. The history of diplomacy might also be called the history of negotiation. Negotiating is a way of life for diplomats. Whether you are working on a major arms control treaty, opening a new diplomatic mission or drafting a statement […]
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16th October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia
Diplomatic Tours
I arrived in Belgrade just over a year ago. But for over half of that time lives have been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic. For any newly arrived diplomat, that means that many of those first twelve months when you would be out and about starting to get to know your host country have […]
15th October 2020 Colombo, Sri Lanka
From applicant, scholar to panellist: A nervous Chevening journey
Nerves, nerves, and more nerves aptly describes my entire Chevening application experience. I was a bundle of nerves from the point of filling out the lengthy application online to that heart-racing moment I clicked open the acceptance email from the Chevening Secretariat. And this year – as I sat on the interview panel, grading the […]
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15th October 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia
More Women in Politics is a Must
In North Macedonia, we have fought the fight of gender equality since the country’s independence, and even though a lot has been accomplished, we are still far away from achieving full gender parity and equal opportunities. When I was asked, by the British Embassy, to write a blog post on women in politics, I welcomed […]
15th October 2020 Vienna, Austria
Debating: today’s most important skill?
On 29 September the British Embassy Vienna invited young people from all over Austria to join a Debate Workshop. Youth from Salzburg, Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia as well as Vienna came together, separated by appropriate “baby elephants” (Austria’s 1.5m rule) to practice their skills. Trainers from Debattierklub Vienna, Joy Edobor and Miri Muntean, introduced […]
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14th October 2020
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Visible Women
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) The campaign for local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina is about to begin. While there are many things we do not yet know about how those elections will run, we can be confident that women – as candidates, as decision-makers, and as […]
9th October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia
Faces of Diplomacy
When I walk up the stairs to my office in the Embassy I pass a series of painted portraits and photographs of former heads of the UK’s diplomatic mission in Belgrade. Over the years our diplomatic mission has had different names and a different status. It has been a Legation, a Consulate General and, as now, […]