3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
15th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
January – the month of GREAT writers
Today I marked Mihai Eminescu’s birthday, Romania’s national poet, by reading one of his iconic poems and talking about Romania’s national heritage and the embassy’s ‘green agenda’. You can read more about Eminescu here.
Read more on January – the month of GREAT writers | Reply (13)
15th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ianuarie – luna marilor scriitori
Ianuarie este o lună a marilor scriitori în Romania și în Marea Britanie. Pe 25 ianuarie, marcăm în Marea Britanie ziua de naștere a lui Robert Burns, poetul național al Scoției, iar pe 15 ianuarie marcăm ziua lui Mihai Eminescu. Cu această ocazie aș dori să vă citesc o poezie de Mihai Eminescu. Am ales, […]
14th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Diaries ready? British Week 2013 is coming!
OK get your new 2013 diaries ready. British Week is back! This year’s British Week will be held from 22 February to 2 March and as usual it will be packed full of fabulous events. And the majority of them will be open to all. The Week will kick off with a promotion of UK […]
Read more on Diaries ready? British Week 2013 is coming! | Reply
14th January 2013 London, UK
Platforms | Digital Diplomacy
Explore our full digital presence at digital.fco.gov.uk/platforms Our British Embassies, High Commissions and Missions around the world may also use regional platforms and channels (such as Seina Weibo and Ifeng in China) when there are other ways to engage with local audiences. Many of our bloggers also write for local columns and websites in order to reach […]
14th January 2013 Paris, France
UK support to French forces in Mali
I want to talk today about the events of the last few days in Africa, starting by saying that our thoughts go to the families of the French soldiers and the hostage who have lost their lives in Mali and in Somalia.
Read more on UK support to French forces in Mali | Reply (2)
14th January 2013 New Delhi, India
GCSA at the Indian Science Congress
For my first day back at work in New Year I had the pleasure of welcoming UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Sir John Beddington (@uksciencechief) back to India. He was in Kolkata to speak at the inauguration of the 100th annual Indian Science Congress. Founded in 1914, in Kolkata, the Congress was the initiative […]
Read more on GCSA at the Indian Science Congress | Reply (1)
11th January 2013 Warsaw, Poland
2013 Business is GREAT!
If you believe a number of our banking friends, 2013 is going to be an even better year than 2012 in Emerging Europe. Set right at the heart of Europe, Poland is set to have a robust year even if we do not have the dazzling growth figures which we have seen whole the world […]
10th January 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Success in the 21st Century – Ten Questions for Lebanon 2020
This week I was asked to speak at USEK, on ‘How Does Lebanon Succeed in the 21st Century?”. Tough audience, tough subject. Especially on the first day back, and after a night of epic storms (during which my sons had taken it in turns to wake me to tell me how frightened they were). In […]
Read more on Success in the 21st Century – Ten Questions for Lebanon 2020 | Reply (9)
9th January 2013 Nairobi, Kenya
Somalia: A New Year’s Resolution – Together into 2013
A year ago, few predicted that Somalia would see such significant changes; yet 2012 saw some real progress in Somalia – including the end of the Transition; a new Parliament (with a significant number of new MPs); the election of a new, reform-minded Speaker and President and a desire for a different type of politics. […]
Read more on Somalia: A New Year’s Resolution – Together into 2013 | Reply (15)
9th January 2013 Harare, Zimbabwe
A different story from Helmand – the BBC investigates progress in civilian institution-building
To listen to some commentators, you might easily gain the impression that no progress has been or can made in Helmand, and as soon as Britain and its Nato allies hand over full responsibility to Afghan institutions, it will collapse back into the violent fundamentalism of the 1990s. In fact, we are increasingly confident that […]
Read more on A different story from Helmand – the BBC investigates progress in civilian institution-building | Reply (1)