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The climate crisis and gender-based violence
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Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
23rd January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Give Peace a Chance
As has been widely reported, King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators together for the first time in 16 months. They have held three meetings in Amman choreographed by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. Comments in the international press have seen a wide range of optimism, pessimism and cynicism. It’s easy to be pessimistic […]
23rd January 2012 Bucharest, Romania
Entrepreneurship is GREAT Britain
Sir Richard Branson is reportedly going to visit Romania in May! He is one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs of our days and a personal role model given his multifaceted achievement, whether in business, personal life, charity work, music or sport. A visionary with astounding resources, Richard Branson is the offspring of Britain’s economic boom […]
20th January 2012 USA
American football is GREAT
The following is a guest post by Melinda Goforth, Consul, Head of Trade and Investment — Washington. George Bernard Shaw once said that America and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. But I think the quirky differences in our respective ways of phrasing can actually bring us together, a point illustrated […]
20th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
Haircuts are a sign of the times
I’m not sure if it was nerves, enthusiasm, or a combination of the two, but the atmosphere in the Embassy here in Washington DC was palpably different this week. Ties and new haircuts had been acquired by colleagues over the weekend. And—clearly a sign that something was up—we were all early to the regular Embassy-wide […]
20th January 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
London Conference on Somalia: Enhancing Security, Supporting Stability
Thank you for the fantastic response to my previous blog. It’s great to see so many comments. For my next few blogs I intend to focus on the key themes of the London Conference, and would like to ask that comments try to focus on each of those issues. So, in this blog I want […]
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20th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Moldova overtakes Ukraine in Freedom House rankings
In a recent blog “Is Ukraine democratic?” I noted an “Economist”, report, The Democracy Index 2011 (pdf file), which showed Ukraine’s democratic ranking falling from 67th in 2010 to 79th in 2011 out of 167 countries. I noted that we should not read too much into a single report; and said it would be interesting […]
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19th January 2012 USA
Our prosperity depends on better design
Last week at the National Building Museum, I had the pleasure of listening to Jim Eyre, one of the founders of the London-based Wilkinson Eyre Architects. Over the years, Wilkinson Eyre has unveiled futuristic designs for gardens in Singapore; skyscrapers in Guangzhou, China; and a number of innovative UK projects. One of the firm’s projects […]
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19th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
An honour and a privilege: Serving at the heart of the special relationship
It is an immense privilege to return to Washington as British Ambassador, and a great honour to serve at the heart of a relationship that is not just special, but – as our respective leaders have said – essential. I begin my assignment this week at the start of what will be a very exciting […]
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19th January 2012 Athens, Greece
An energised political team
When I tell those who might be interested in asking what I do for a living that I am the British Embassy’s Political Officer most people ask “so, do you think that we shall have an early election?” or “what do the British think of the latest polls?” So, they are surprised if they get […]
19th January 2012 Windhoek, Namibia
Clever cheetah conservation in Namibia
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) Centre this weekend and was delighted to discover a number of British scientists and volunteers based at the field research, conservation and education centre near Otjiwarongo. Namibia is home to the world’s largest number of free-ranging cheetah, boosting some 20% of […]
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