28th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Guest blog by Greg Quinn, Deputy Head of Mission St Andrew’s Day always has a special place in my heart. Not only do I have many friends from Scotland but there are various other connections. These include the fact that my mother is of Scottish ancestry (and I’m therefore the proud wearer of a kilt), […]
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23rd November 2014
Chennai, India
I’ve spent most of my career working on Africa and its issues. It’s a beautiful, resilient, inspiring continent. The people are simply extraordinary. But I’ve also seen first-hand the prevalence of violence against women there. That’s true in conflict – in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and most recently as Ambassador to the Central […]
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25th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A major area of work for any British Embassy or High Commission is consular responsibility: looking after British nationals when they’re abroad. This is one of the three priority aims of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office – together with protecting national security and building prosperity (our foreign policy as a whole is geared towards strengthening […]
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13th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This week I hosted former Ethiopian scholars at the British Residence to mark the 30th Anniversary of the #British Government’s flagship #Chevening Scholarship programme. The Chevening Scholarships are the #UK government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (#FCO) and partner organisations. The programme targets outstanding scholars with leadership potential from around […]
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30th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In recent weeks, I have walked into three very different sorts of buildings and had three very different sets of reactions. With Labour Day approaching, this has got me wondering: are buildings designed to have an impact on those that work in them, those that visit them, or both? Do people behave differently in a […]
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12th March 2014
Washington DC, USA
Africa has had a “bad start” to 2014. Or so I keep hearing. But I wonder, how does a whole continent have a bad start? Do a billion people collectively have a bad day? What people usually mean is that Africa has experienced a lot of violence this year. No denying that. Horrific atrocities in […]
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4th March 2014
Washington DC, USA
On Tuesday evening at Georgetown University, the UK’s Foreign Secretary William Hague, received an award from his friend and former US counterpart, Hillary Clinton. The award recognizes his leadership in steering the energies of the British government into the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, an international project to end the use of rape and sexual assault […]
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27th January 2014
New Delhi, India
One of the major parts of our work is arranging visits and meetings between the UK and India. There’s no real replacement for meeting face to face if you want to get a collaboration going, but travelling between the UK and India, in either direction, is no small undertaking – a long flight, a new […]
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19th December 2013
Washington DC, USA
In my lifetime, the rise of digital communications has changed nearly every aspect of our daily activities. And in foreign policy, the world is changing as a result of digital’s ability to give a voice to so many. We have seen social media play a huge role in regime change in the Arab world, we have […]
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18th October 2013
Washington DC, USA
Tom Hanks and I fell out back in the early 1990’s. I’m not sure if he noticed. The problem was, first, that he won the Oscar for Philadelphia when I wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to get it for In the Name of the Father. Then, to rub salt in my movie-nerd wounds, the awful Forrest Gump […]
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