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)
4th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Making Chornobyl safer
Did you know that one of the largest moveable structures ever assembled is being created in Ukraine over the next four years? That it will cost around Euro 1.54 billion? And that the aim is to reduce the risk of radiation escaping from Chornobyl’s damaged Reactor Number 4? The “New Safe Confinement Project” at Chornobyl […]
4th November 2011 Windhoek, Namibia
Windhoek relaunches Chevening Alumni Association of Namibia (CAAN).
I thought it was well worth highlighting a couple of key events in turn (over a series of blogs), which really helped round out the heavy commercial focus of the programme and highlight the breadth of our activities here. The photos also help illustrate the tremendous warmth of the reception that the minister received from […]
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4th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Assisi II
I paid my second visit to Assisi within a week when I attended, with Princess Michael of Kent standing in for the Duke of Edinburgh, the launch by the ARC of their Green Pilgrimages Network. ARC, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, is an organisation launched in 1995. To quote them, they are “a secular […]
4th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A busy week in Perth
I’m back in Canberra after a very hectic week in Perth. We had a busy programme around the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). It was good to see so many UK ministers in Australia. Early in the week I was accompanying Lord Green the Trade Minister. He attended the Commonwealth Business Forum which attracted […]
3rd November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
EU/Ukraine: Signing by Christmas?
“So it seems to me,” the Ukrainian business leader says, “that Ukraine is so important to the EU that they’ll overlook Mrs Tymoshenko and recent declines in democratic standards and we’ll sign the Association Agreement in December.” “No,” I say. “That’s won’t happen, for several reasons.” I’m visiting an important Ukrainian enterprise which does a […]
2nd November 2011 Chevening, UK
Every Chevening Scholar is a Bright Star!
Lishia Erza, one of our 2009-2010 alumnus, completed a Master’s course in Social and Global Justice at the University of Nottingham. Lishia is currently doing a PhD in Edinburgh (Governance for Excluded Communities) and chairs the United Nations Association Edinburgh’s working group for Democracy, Governance and Humanities. In this article, Lishia tells us about the […]
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1st November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Movember: looking daft for men’s health
A guest blog by Miles Martin, UkrTashBud, Mo-Team, British Embassy Kyiv You may notice over the coming weeks (thirty days to be precise) that a number of the gentlemen of the British Embassy in Kyiv will be sporting an increased amount of facial hair. Moustaches in fact. Such a co-ordinated outbreak may at first glance […]
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31st October 2011 Ottawa, Canada
Understanding the power of Cyberspace
I remember just 15 years ago, dialling into my internet service provider with the hissing and buzzing of my 14.4 modem, waiting for minutes as pages loaded on Netscape Navigator. I was one of the 16 million users on the internet at the time. How the times have changed. We live in a world where […]
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31st October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Back to the Cafe in Shanghai
Back in November 2009 I wrote an opinion piece in the magazine “Investgazeta” called “The Cafe in Shanghai”. In the article I imagined hard-bitten investors sitting in Shanghai wondering where in the world to invest their money, from China to India to Germany to Bahrain to Brazil to the United Kingdom and elsewhere. I said […]
31st October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
It’s good to talk
I attended a presentation on nuclear safety last week which discussed the prospects for nuclear energy in Jordan. The debate got a bit heated at times, demonstrating the strong feelings that the nuclear issue raises, not only in Jordan, but world-wide. The fact that the debate took place at all was good and it will […]