Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

11th March 2014 London, UK

The Model United Nations in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office- by Dr Jon Yorke, Reader in Law, School of Law, Birmingham City University

On 11 February, 2014, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted students from the BCU School of Law and the FCO Youth Inspiration Group for a Model United Nations Security Council Session. The event provided invaluable experience in Security Council member state presentations, the political intricacies of alliance building at the multilateral level for session voting, […]

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11th March 2014 Havana, Cuba

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by Tim Cole

Former British Ambassador to Cuba

Pirates, power and pine trees

I spent much of last week in Isla de la Juventud, one of the many hundreds of islands that make up Cuba. It’s called Juventud because thousands of youths – Cuban and foreign – studied there in boarding schools in the 1980s. Out of the 100 schools that were planned to be built sixty-two were […]

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11th March 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Voices of Women

The following is a guest blog by Simona Prete, Head of Communications at the British Embassy to the Holy See Empowerment, aspirations, voice, faith, women, church, end violence, are words which have been inspiring 2014 International Women’s Day across the world.  A poignant moment in which women’s voices were listened to; and their role, their […]

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11th March 2014

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by Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Investing In Our Future

The so called ‘Higgs Boson,’ for which British Professor Peter Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, was only proved in 2012 at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland. CERN is a fantastic example of what we can do when we come together in the spirit of scientific endeavour.  As facilities and instruments become more […]

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11th March 2014 Warsaw, Poland

Martin Oxley, Head, UKTI Poland

by Martin Oxley

Director of UKTI Warsaw

Say Cheese – Say Wensleydale

Piesek P is on the lookout for GREAT British Cheese in Poland – as he finds it he’ll let you know – just smile, Say Cheese Say Wensleydale Wensleydale cheese has a heritage that spans centuries, with its roots firmly set in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. First crafted in the 12th Century by […]

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11th March 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Mountains

by Ian Stewart Ian Stewart was Director of British Council Bulgaria from 2002 to 2007. Before taking the position, together with his wife Ann they spent four intensive weeks in the heat of Varna learning Bulgarian, rocked to “sleep” by all-night wedding celebrations and Techno festivals. They left Bulgaria in one cold grey morning in December 2007 […]

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10th March 2014

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

From software to pork pies – the Australian market beckons

I have just spent a busy three days in the UK’s North West and East Midlands, meeting some 40 companies to promote the opportunities in the Australian market. I gave group presentations in Warrington and Leicester and made a number of visits to individual companies who are beginning to tackle the Australian market. The range […]

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10th March 2014 Paris, France

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by Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

Bringing Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table

Hague, Kerry and Fabius in Paris, 5 March 2014. Credits: MAEE

I’ve talked before about the events in Kiev, at a time when they reminded me of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the extraordinary surge of freedom and independence that happened after that in Eastern Europe. Since then, things have got more difficult, because we’ve had what is obviously an intervention of Russian armed […]

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10th March 2014

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by Peter Beckingham

Former governor in Turks and Caicos Islands

Team Commonwealth, Team Turks and Caicos

Today we celebrate being a part of one of the world’s largest group of countries as we mark Commonwealth Day with a public holiday. From Canada to the Cook Islands, and from St Kitt’s to the world’s largest democracy, India, the Commonwealth embraces an extraordinary range of countries, including the Turks and Caicos, covering a third of the world’s […]

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