16th November 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
How can Geneva help Paris? I was going to write this week about antimicrobial resistance, the stealthily spreading obsolescence of antibiotics that will cost the world an estimated 10 million lives a year by 2050 if we don’t act now. But after Friday, that somehow didn’t feel right. With over 130 mostly young people massacred […]
13th October 2015
Some weeks ago, I retweeted a thoughtful, well-informed article that suggested that the OSCE might have greatest relevance providing ‘resilience for a rainy day’. Resilience has to be built up, just as the human body creates antibodies to ward off disease and infection. In healthcare, resilience does not just mean Accident and Emergency services; the […]
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14th September 2015 London, UK
Last week I visited Rwanda for the first time. It gave me the opportunity to see the remarkable progress that this country has made since the devastating 1994 genocide. In my joint role at the Foreign Office and DFID, I was able to explore the full breadth of the UK’s relationship with Rwanda – a […]
19th January 2015 New Delhi, India
The intricate world of supply chains of several foods from field to plate and the relationships between food, health and environment gets all the more fascinating if one does a comparative analysis of two countries’ food systems. This is what we attempted to do during the final quarter of the previous year with two scoping […]
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28th November 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
I recently got a Jawbone ‘Up’, a device that monitors your daily activity, sleep patterns and exercise, and helps you better control your health. As a father of two boys, I don’t need anyone to tell me I don’t get enough sleep. But, like many, I’m outsourcing the collection of my data to a plastic […]
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15th October 2014
On 15 October, today, ministers, businesses, experts and MEPs from across the political spectrum will come together for the Green Growth Summit to call for an ambitious EU 2030 climate change and energy package agreement at the October European Council. An ambitious package could pave the way for a global deal on climate change at […]
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3rd September 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
With a formidable to-do list for the world’s leaders, the 2014 NATO Summit takes place in Wales on 4/5 September. This will be the largest ever gathering of international leaders in Britain. In preparation, some diplomats have even been learning Welsh (Matthew Barzun clip). Having been to a few, I’ve sometimes been sceptical about the […]
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25th April 2014 Dublin, Ireland
I last commented publicly on the subject of European security at the Institute for Strategic Studies in Krakow in May 2013. A lot has happened since then. The crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea is of course the most significant development. I wrote recently about how Russia’s actions are completely indefensible and what […]
29th January 2014
This year agriculture is the main theme of the 22nd Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the African Union (AU) – the AU Summit, which is taking place this week. But African leaders are also deliberating on the peace and security of the continent. Country situations at the top of the agenda are […]
4th September 2013 USA
I have less than one year before my next diplomatic posting (wherever that may be) but before I go, intend to write a monthly blog about the UK-Florida relationship. I’ll share some of the insights I’ve gained during my three and half years service here so far.