11th May 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Grahame Greene’s novel about Geneva ignores it, focusing instead on the nasty foibles of the very rich. And if they mention it at all, modern novelists writing about Geneva use the UN at best as a backdrop for international intrigue but more often as a metaphor for international impotence. For someone preparing to take up […]
27th June 2014
Earlier this week I was in London to address an in-house training programme of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on religion and foreign policy. The course is aimed at British diplomats, but also public servants from other government ministries; there were a number of participants this week from the Ministry of Defence, and on […]
2nd July 2013 Kingston, Jamaica
I’ve always liked the word ‘diaspora’, which comes from Greek and means scattering or dispersion. Before I came to Jamaica I thought of the Diaspora as referring mainly to the worldwide Jewish community. And indeed, that community is represented here, with its roots in the immigration from Europe of those forced to convert to Christianity […]
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8th March 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Today is a very important day. It is my birthday. More seriously, it is International Women’s Day. The role of woman in European society has evolved a lot in recent years, mostly in a positive direction. However, there is a great deal still to do. Women are still under represented at the top levels in […]
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5th August 2011
This will be my last blog entry from La Paz. I am about to complete my mission here after just under four most stimulating and fascinating years in Bolivia. From later this month, I shall be taking up my new post as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to The Holy See. My successor, Ross Denny, arrives in […]