9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
3rd January 2013 Chevening, UK
A Re-Education Process: My Chevening Experience So Far
This months Chevening Conversations blog entry is by Malaysian Chevening Scholar King Chai. Marcus was right – I should’ve taken more time to write for the (I presume) now-defunct Kopi Kluang ‘Weekly’ Column on LoyarBurok.com. As I was packing my things to leave for Kent to celebrate Christmas with my ‘parents-away-from-home’, it suddenly hit me […]
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3rd January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK 2013: G8 Presidency
This time last year, the UK was looking forward to Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and hosting the Olympics and Paralympic Games. I think most people would agree that they went tremendously well. 2013 promises to be busy in a different way, not least because the UK is taking on the Presidency of the G8. […]
2nd January 2013 New Delhi, India
Forward look for 2013
You had the SINners best bits of 2012 and so we thought at the start of this new year it would be a good time to have a look at what the SIN India team are getting excited about in 2013. Events and projects ranging from environmental issues to bioenergy to creative economy are going […]
31st December 2012 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Amid the Winter’s Snow
On the day of the first heavy snow in Tashkent, I went out to the former Abdul Kassim Medressah, which now houses artisans’ workshops and shops selling craft work from around Uzbekistan. The city looks very different under a fresh coating of snow. The Medressah is an attractively simple building from the early nineteenth century. […]
31st December 2012 Bucharest, Romania
Christmas soup kitchen for the homeless of Bucharest
The British Embassy joined forces with Bucharest’s leading homeless charity Casa Ioana on Thursday 20th December to serve food to the homeless of Bucharest. On a sub zero and snowy December morning at the main train station in Bucharest, volunteers from the Embassy worked together with the staff from Casa Ioana. The team served …
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30th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A Great Year
Cartoons at this time of year usually show a battered, bruised and battle-scarred old man handing over the torch of time to a new-born infant, symbolising the passage of time from the horrors of the old year to the hopes of the new. The change of year always inspires thoughts about what has passed and what is […]
28th December 2012 London, UK
List fever
For anyone who enjoys sitting down over the holidays and reading the newspapers, Christmas and New Year are open season for lists. And in 2012, there’s been a lot to talk about. We’ve seen colleagues from across Government emerging bleary-eyed from late-night negotiations in Brussels having won around new allies to our point of view, […]
27th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Looking back on a fascinating diplomatic experience
“Sadly for me, this Christmas is my last in Rome, as I approach the end of my posting as Deputy Head of Mission at this Embassy. As I prepare to depart in January, this end-of-year moment gives me a chance to look back on my time in this job, and what it has meant for me. To say it’s been a fascinating and busy …
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27th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
My pick of Govt. priorities in 2013
Shortly after the Romanian Government presented its programme I tweeted on @HMAMartinHarris my pick of the top five priorities to be taken forward in 2013. In five tweets: 1. Implementing the IMF agreement. RO has done well on fiscal consolidation. Now it’s time to progress on structural reforms and tax evasion. 2. Judicial reform. Implementing […]
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24th December 2012 London, UK
A year of digital diplomacy
Here are some of the social media highlights from the Foreign Office and its network of British embassies, high commissions and missions overseas during 2012 …