Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

3rd February 2015

Paul Brummell, British Ambassador to Romania

by Paul Brummell

Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department, Communication Directorate

Civil Nuclear Showcase

The Central European Network  is a grouping of nine British Embassies stretching from Poland to Bulgaria, representing an area we describe as ‘High Growth Europe’. Each Ambassador in the network is charged with promoting one of our priority sectors for developing British trade, as part of UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) Export 2020 initiative. I […]

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3rd February 2015 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

A small ceremony to present Professor Limon with the badge of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Last September, Her Majesty The Queen appointed Professor Jerzy Limon to be an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of his valuable services to British-Polish cultural relations. On 29 January, I had the pleasure and honour to present Professor Limon with the badge of the Order at a […]

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3rd February 2015

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Helping Pope Francis

The new Holy See Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, is well-named. When earlier this week Msgr. Gallagher met the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, the Deputy Secretary, the Maltese Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, reminded us that the name Gallagher is the anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Gallchobhair, meaning “foreign help” or […]

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2nd February 2015 Washington DC, USA

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by Lindsay Chura

Senior Policy Advisor in Science and Innovation

Falklands Symposium: Q&A with Dr Paul Mayewski (USA)

Following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, the first ever Pan–American Science Delegation to the Falkland Islands is participating in a week-long mission to showcase the beauty of the UK South Atlantic Overseas Territories and immense opportunities for scientific research and collaboration in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. Scientists from the US, Canada, Chile, […]

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2nd February 2015 USA

Tackling Ebola: Q & A with Dr Schieffelin, Tulane University

The UK and US have been leading a coordinated international response to the Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia, the epicentre of the crisis. According to the WHO over 7900 have died out of 20 000 cases of confirmed, probable and suspected cases of the disease. Through collaboration with UK physicians and scientists, Dr Schieffelin […]

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2nd February 2015 London, UK

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by Philip Parham

UK Commonwealth Envoy, former British Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates

To find out about things

Ten years ago, the UN General Assembly designated 27 January the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Why? The Nazis’ murder of six million Jews, along with several million other concentration camps victims, is not the only example of humanity’s capacity for brutality on a huge scale. Indeed, sadly, […]

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2nd February 2015 Bangalore, India

Sunil Kumar M

by Sunil Kumar

Senior Science & Innovation Adviser

Business models and routes to market

Guest blog by Dr  Shailendra Vyakarnam is the Director of Centre for Entrepreneurship Learning, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge The Indian biotech sector is set to grow. This has been clearly stated by the Dept. of Biotechnology and numerous agencies. Resources are being allocated for this purpose and the evidence of this can be seen when […]

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2nd February 2015

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

British tourists or travellers – come to Belarus!

One of the great attractions of becoming a diplomat is the opportunity to live in different places abroad. Lots of people travel abroad but, unlike diplomats, they tend only to stay for a short period. I notice there is a lot of argument in cyberspace about the differences between “a tourist” and “a traveller”: I […]

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31st January 2015 Brasilia, Brazil

Unlike in Brazil: elections in the UK – guestpost by Adam Dady

Guest post by Adam Dady On Thursday 7 May, British voters will vote for our next government. The 2010 elections saw our first coalition government (Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) since 1945. This year’s elections promise to be even more unpredictable by UK standards, with five parties currently receiving more than 5% support in the polls. […]

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31st January 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

Turkey 2023: why the UK welcomes Turkish success

Let’s imagine a Turkey almost 10 years from now, in 2023. The years since 2015 have been tough for the Turkish economy, as for all countries. But the people of Turkey have risen magnificently to the challenge. By 2023, buoyed by high rates of economic growth for each of the last eight years, nominal GDP has more […]

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