Tag: war

28th March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

The myth of russophobia

shostakovich pasternak

People around the world have watched in horror and disbelief as Russian military hardware wreaks death and destruction across Ukraine. Moscow’s decision to launch a brutal and bloody war is illegal and unjustified. It is unsurprising that the world has moved quickly to condemn the invasion, and actions such as targeting of maternity hospitals and […]

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26th April 2016 Beirut, Lebanon

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by Hugo Shorter

British Ambassador to Lebanon

War and Reconciliation

Yesterday I participated in an ANZAC ceremony for the first time: a moving dawn service led by Australian Ambassador Glenn Miles to commemorate the fallen of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the battle of Gallipoli, 1915.  This tragic battle helped forge the modern countries of Australia and New Zealand.  There was […]

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16th March 2016 Beirut, Lebanon

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by Hugo Shorter

British Ambassador to Lebanon

Five years of War in Syria: how international support for Lebanon is changing

It has been five years since the Syria conflict began. Five years of barrel bombs, mass executions and disappearances. Five years of people being forced from their homes because they fear for their lives. And for many of those who fled to Lebanon, what they expected to be a temporary move has become a painful […]

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12th March 2015 Beirut, Lebanon

Tom Fletcher

by Tom Fletcher

Former British Ambassador to Lebanon

Tolerating the Intolerable: Syria, Four Years On

On the first anniversary of the Syria conflict, I wrote about the staggering impact it had already had – those numbers seem small now. On the second anniversary, I wrote about the generosity of Syria’s neighbours and parts of the international community, the frustrations of diplomacy, and the need to maintain a sense of rage. […]

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5th November 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Taking risks for the Church

Pope Francis often talks of the need for priests to take risks, to get out into the streets, to live the message of the Gospel. This week I met a group of people who are living witnesses to just such an approach – descendants, relatives and friends of Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty, Major Sam Derry, and […]

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4th June 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Time to Act: mobilising Catholic networks against sexual violence in conflict

I often have to remind people that I am accredited not to the Vatican City State, but to the Holy See, the governance of the global Catholic Church. As such, this embassy has reach into an extraordinary worldwide network of civil society organisations, religious congregations, diplomats, universities and other components that make up the Catholic […]

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29th April 2014 Beirut, Lebanon

Tom Fletcher

by Tom Fletcher

Former British Ambassador to Lebanon

One Hundred Years On: Here’s to the Crazy Ones

This month, I attended the reopening of the Anglo-American Cemetery in Beirut, a century after its inauguration. This small corner of a foreign field in Furn el-Shubbak is the final resting place of a hundred or so explorers and pioneers who came to Lebanon in the 19th and early 20th centuries – missionaries, educationalists, relief […]

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12th November 2012 Paris, France

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by Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

Remembrance 2012: Lest we forget

The Cenotaph in London

I’m speaking to you just after the commemorations here of 11 November, when we  look back and remember those killed in all the wars in the last hundred years. This was my first time in Paris attending these commemorations and it was the privilege to be at the Arc de Triomphe where the Président de […]

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10th November 2012 Beirut, Lebanon

Tom Fletcher

by Tom Fletcher

Former British Ambassador to Lebanon

History, Remembrance and ‘The Key of Hope’

Following Remembrance services in Saida and Tripoli on Thursday, we have just left the third, in the beautifully kept Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Beirut. The torrential rain cleared, and we honoured those who fell, driving Vichy from Lebanon in 1941. We share these poignant moments with former allies and former foes. The allied contingent […]

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