13th February 2015 Beirut, Lebanon
Spring 2005 was when I decided that I would one day work in Lebanon. I was based in our Paris embassy when Rafik Hariri and 21 others were murdered. I remember reading the powerful reports sent by the then ambassador, James Watt, and sharing frantic updates with Lebanese and French friends. The Valentine’s Day massacre ripped […]
16th January 2015 Beirut, Lebanon
All over the Foreign Office network, we draw on advice and analysis from our brilliant locally engaged staff. One of our colleagues here, Nadim Zaazaa, is leaving us to work on an exciting project – the UK-Lebanon Tech Hub. See here for more details. He shared with me some parting thoughts about the Middle East, […]
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13th January 2015 Beirut, Lebanon
All of us share the sadness of the French people at last week’s terrorist attack in Paris, and of the Lebanese people at the weekend attack in Tripoli. In their condemnation of the deaths in Paris, the four Muftis of Lebanon sent a powerful message against extremism. It was a reminder that many in this […]
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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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7th November 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
The Lebanese spend more on education than anything but food, more per capita than any other country. It’s a downpayment of hope in Lebanon’s future. In schools as on the borders and checkpoints, the UK stands beside Lebanon with actions not words. The UK is now Lebanon’s main education partner, through four gamechanging programmes. For […]
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16th October 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
This year’s Blog Action Day (#BAD2014 #Blogaction14), on 16 October, is on inequality. To encourage debate about the rights of migrant workers, I spent the day with Kalkidan Nigusie, from Ethiopia. In the morning, we visited the Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk (who has written his response here), gave a press conference, and chaired a meeting […]
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25th September 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
For a week every year, the world’s foreign policy elites relocate to New York for the annual jamboree of statecraft, the UN General Assembly. The pace is frantic – diplomatic speed-dating. But it matters. The UN may not be perfect, but no-one has yet come up with a better idea for global coexistence. It matters […]
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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24th May 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
Today I visited the Presidential Palace to thank President Sleiman for his leadership. Throughout his mandate he has led Lebanon with great dignity and wisdom, and worked tirelessly for unity and consensus. He has just left the building. In theory, a new President should be preparing to arrive, making the last adjustments to his or […]
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9th May 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
I joined three events in the last week on power in the digital age. The first was with online activists and entrepreneurs, with @AUB_OC at the American University #SMCL2. I had first met them shortly after arriving in Beirut in 2011, and talked about riding the digital tiger, and tips for twiplomats. Two years on, […]
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