8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
8th February 2013 Boston, USA
Suggesting New Solutions for "Making Science Work"
I’m a pretty reserved person most of the time, but I can get completely geeked out by celebrities. There is something completely fascinating about the fact that so much of their lives are on display, and yet we really know so little about them. I often wonder what they are REALLY thinking and who they […]
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8th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Aggiornamento: Every Institution needs It
50 years ago, everyone in Rome was talking about “aggiornamento”. There is no English word that translates it perfectly, but in prosaic terms it means “bring up to date”, as well as “revision” or “renovation”. The word was used by Pope John XXIII to describe and set out the task of the Second Vatican Council. […]
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8th February 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Beirutopia
Diplomats hate making predictions. Churchill once said that you could ignore every other page of Foreign Office advice, because it tended to be in the form of ‘on the one hand’ and ‘on the other hand’. The files are full of pre-election telegrams that hedge their bets. There are good reasons for this. We don’t […]
8th February 2013 London, UK
Jobs in the FCO digital team
We’ve just advertised two jobs in the FCO digital team in London. They are: Social Media Manager Digital Communications Manager (Middle East, North Africa and Global Security) I’m biased of course, but these are two amazing roles. If you’re interested in how digital can deliver foreign policy objectives, have a passion for social media, want […]
8th February 2013 Paris, France
Debating on gay marriage in France and in the UK
One of the striking things about Britain and France is that our two societies are often dealing with very similar issues at the same time. There is a clear example of that this week where, in both the British Parliament and in the French National Assembly, the issue of gay marriage (or “mariage pour tous” […]
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8th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Wet snow
Snow has been on the ground in Belarus since early December. But temperatures have varied markedly. So while it was -18°C late on 23rd December when I drove out to Minsk airport, by the evening of Christmas Day (ie 25th December) it was above freezing. I shouldn’t be so surprised at the range of temperature. […]
7th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How bad is corruption in Turkey?
This seems to be the time of year for international comparative indeces. I blogged recently about the latest statistics on press freedom. Now someone has pointed out that I didn’t cover the latest Transparency International Corruption Index, published in December. The Transparency International figures are controversial. The full name of the index is “The Corruption Perceptions […]
7th February 2013 Chevening, UK
Getting to Know the Home of Australia's Head of State
The following is a guest post by Cal Viney. Cal is the 2012/13 Chevening Scholar from Australia. He is currently pursuing an LL.M. in Public Law (focused specifically on Constitutional Law and Theory) at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Cal is an Australian Lawyer. Welcome to Heathrow. Rain. Welcome to the London […]
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6th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK Action on Human Rights
I had an interesting day last week. It began and ended with me handing out certificates to participants on courses the British Embassy had funded. The courses were for two very different Sudanese institutions. But they covered some common ground. The day began at the Higher Military Academy at the closing ceremony of a course […]
6th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Respect for a woman’s body
Today we mark International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGM). FGM has existed in the culture and tradition of many societies for many years, causing untold psychological and physical damage to young girls. On this day it is important that we shine a light on an issue which affects so many, and […]