20th December 2012
Washington DC, USA
Yesterday, the UK Prime Minister announced to Parliament plans for a reduction in UK military forces in Afghanistan in 2013. The decision to “draw-down” our forces from 9,000 to around 5,200 reflects the significant progress in transitioning security responsibility to the Afghan government. This is a positive outcome and testament to the effort put in […]
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1st October 2012
Washington DC, USA
The following is a guest post by Lieutenant General Nicholas Carter, who was given responsibility for leading the UK’s Army 2020 Team to design the future Army. From October 2012 he will be Deputy Commander HQ ISAF and the UK’s National Contingent Commander in Afghanistan. Lieutenant General Nicholas Carter was visiting Washington last week and in this guest […]
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20th August 2012
Washington DC, USA
The following is a guest post by Nic Hailey, who was a Counsellor – Political, Press, and Public Affairs in the British Embassy in Washington, now the new Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in Kabul. He writes about his initial impressions after his first few weeks in Afghanistan. After four wonderful years in Washington, I’ve […]
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20th May 2012
Washington DC, USA
The following is a guest post by Neil Holland, First Secretary, Foreign and Security Policy Group at the British Embassy in Washington. Last time I visited Chicago I was struck by three things. First how much fun it was. Blues, good food and drink, and history. That pretty much checks all the main boxes for me. […]
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19th May 2012
Washington DC, USA
The road from the previous NATO Summit in Lisbon to Chicago has had some bumps, but what the NATO/ISAF Alliance will focus on this weekend is the degree to which we have stuck the course and remained committed to Afghanistan’s future. At Lisbon, NATO and ISAF allies agreed that we would remain in a combat […]
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14th May 2012
London, UK
After a week of change in Europe, it was no surprise what was on the minds of many of my contacts in the US this week. Both in Boston and in Washington I was quizzed about the new French President, Greek efforts to form a coalition, and most importantly – how all this was going […]
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23rd April 2012
Washington DC, USA
At the 18 April meeting of the NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers in Brussels, the British Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond announced a firm UK commitment to help fund the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) after 2014. He said “The UK contribution of £70m per annum to the funds to support the Afghan National Security Forces will make […]
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16th March 2012
London, UK
I recently made my first visit to Estonia and Latvia as Europe Minister. During the visits I was pleased to meet the Foreign Ministers of both countries and discuss a wide range of bilateral issues and international interests, on many of which we share similar views. In Estonia I met Members of Parliament, opinion formers […]
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11th October 2011
Bucharest, Romania
Guest blogger: Colonel Giles Orpen-Smellie, the British Defence Attaché, on his contribution to the visit by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Bucharest It was a pleasure to be able to address the British Parliamentary delegation, led by Sir Menzies Campbell MP, a former leader of the British Liberal-Democrat Party, who visited Bucharest over the weekend […]
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16th September 2011
London, UK
During my visit to Oslo this week, I was reminded of the strength and depth of our relationship with Norway, and the wide range of issues where we have shared interests. The UK and Norway are partners in NATO in Afghanistan, we have a longstanding energy relationship, and a common interest in developing regional trade. […]
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