20th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
I’m not sure if it was nerves, enthusiasm, or a combination of the two, but the atmosphere in the Embassy here in Washington DC was palpably different this week. Ties and new haircuts had been acquired by colleagues over the weekend. And—clearly a sign that something was up—we were all early to the regular Embassy-wide […]
19th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
It is an immense privilege to return to Washington as British Ambassador, and a great honour to serve at the heart of a relationship that is not just special, but – as our respective leaders have said – essential. I begin my assignment this week at the start of what will be a very exciting […]
Read more on An honour and a privilege: Serving at the heart of the special relationship | Reply
13th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
Long before I knew I was coming to DC, I saw Alec Ross, Senior Advisor on Innovation to Secretary Clinton, give a talk at the London School of Economics on foreign policy in the era of social media. He argued to an enthusiastic London audience that high speed Internet is the infrastructure of the 21st […]
Read more on The Internet, Diplomacy, and My Mother | Reply (1)
11th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
I’m just on the train back from a trip to New York City—my first excursion out of DC since arriving in the US at the end of November. Of course, I’ve been to NYC many times before (indeed Layla and I went there on our honeymoon) but it’s a very different experience to go to […]
5th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
When I was offered the dream job of Counsellor for Global Issues at the British Embassy in Washington DC, clearly I couldn’t refuse. It’s a dream job because of the range of issues my portfolio covers—diplomacy on trade, energy, the environment, transport, science and innovation—and because of the country and context, since the US is […]
23rd December 2011 Washington DC, USA
In the spirit of the season, I offer up some gift suggestions that teach the most important economic lessons in a post for the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog. Click through for more.
Read more on Peter Matheson on the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog | Reply
15th December 2011 USA
For those of us actively working toward successful international negotiations on climate change, the most recent meeting in Durban, South Africa seems like cause for optimism this holiday season. The UN climate talks wrapped up last weekend with over 120 countries (including major economies such as the United States) forming a coalition behind the EU’s […]
14th December 2011
Remember the Rubik’s Cube, the toy that every British schoolboy had to have in the early 80s, alongside a copy of The Beano? I thought it had gone the way of the Dodo, until I saw it on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning. The gist of James Hookway’s article is […]
21st September 2011
“To be honest, the first things that come to mind when I think of Massachusetts are Sam Adams ale, the Kennedys, the Red Sox, the original Tea Party….and the Bee Gees (“feel I’m going back to Massachusetts”, sung at notes too painful for me to reach). But having spent two days this week in Boston, […]
15th September 2011
The following is a guest post by Spencer Mahony, HM Consul & UKTI Regional Director for the South East US. There are many famous triangles in the world: the golden triangle in India, which takes in Delhi, Agra (home to the Taj Mahal) and Jaipur; the golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London which has […]