2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
13th October 2025
UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls: September visits to Sarajevo and New York
7th March 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia
Education, engagement and economy – my first visit to Shtip
One-hour drive from central to eastern North Macedonia, away from Skopje’s urban noise, you drive into a wide greenfield area full of agricultural land known as Ovche Pole. Its name in the Macedonian language means “plain of sheep” and it spreads left and right as a wide wave of green and wind. It is noted by Rebecca West in the famous “Black […]
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1st March 2019 Guatemala City, Guatemala
The GREAT British fortnight
What do you think of when you hear the word Britain? For some it’s London – Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Queen – for others it’s football (Manchester City/United) or music (Beatles, Queen, Adele) or food (fish and chips, scones and jam) and drink (whisky and gin, and of course our national drink – tea!). […]
27th February 2019 Vienna, Austria
#ViennaMemories #8: The Third Room (and the Third Man)
What is a Third Room? I occasionally consider on this blog objects I acquired during my first diplomatic posting in Vienna in 1984-87. One such is the “Third Room” sign below. I had it made in Vienna in 1985 when working as Second Secretary in the old British embassy in the Reisnerstrasse. According to the […]
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26th February 2019
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Together we can
27 February is ‘World NGO Day’, a chance for all of us to reflect on the vital contributions made by Non-Governmental Organisations, also known as Civil Society Organisations. What do we mean by that? Anything that brings people together in the space outside of governments and business (hence the term ‘third sector’), from sports clubs […]
21st February 2019 Vienna, Austria
Is British education the BeSt? You judge!
Great news: Austria’s largest education fair is coming to Vienna from 7-10 March 2019. BeSt Vienna (the acronym stands for Beruf, Studium, Weiterbildung) will offer a terrific opportunity to find out more about studying in the UK. The excellent British Council will have a stand at the fair, at A18, offering advice about studying in […]
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20th February 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia
Workers’ rights in North Macedonia
“Everyone has the right to work, to freely choose his or her employment, to be protected at work and to be provided with material security during temporary unemployment.” Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia World Day of Social Justice 20th of February is a suitable occasion to talk about workers’ […]
19th February 2019 Geneva, Switzerland
Disarmament blog: Taking on the Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament
The Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament rotates alphabetically amongst its members, who each take a turn for four weeks while the Conference is in session. That means that, over the 24 weeks of each year’s session, six countries are asked to take the chair. This week, the UK picked up the baton from Ukraine […]
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19th February 2019 King Charles Street, London
Global Action on Patient Safety
Patient safety is a growing global challenge and taking collective action is a critical step in improving healthcare for all, a key part of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The UK government, with Germany, Japan, and a range of other countries and international partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), are working on our […]
14th February 2019 London,UK
Leicester’s global links
I headed on Wednesday to Leicester, for two events organised by the think tank the British Foreign Policy Group. One was an induction programme for its enthusiastic cohort of Student Ambassadors, a new scheme to engage students in the public debate on UK foreign policy, including through encouraging them to produce short articles for online […]
13th February 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia
Judicial Council as a guarantee of the judicial independence
“In the eyes of reasonable, just, truthful and informed person, the behaviour of a Judicial Council member should be flawless” – provision from the Code of Ethics of the Judicial Council. All wrongdoings made by individuals, no matter in which capacity they are, and no matter whether they have been done intentionally or by negligence, have […]
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