Craig Murray has commented on my earlier post about EU policy towards Uzbekistan: You make the somewhat childish debating error of asserting that because I have said that US republicans do something, I am claiming that only US republicans do that thing. I have in fact published numerous pieces, both on my […]
The FT attempts to describe how this morass of trade rules complexity has hit the rocks (Note: deliberate mixed metaphor). See also this. When one has worked in Diplomacy for as long as I have, one realises just how little one knows. So on this subject I have primitive instincts/prejudices […]
Oliver Miles picks up on my reference to the possible indictment by the ICC of the President of Sudan and commends to me to an article by Palestinian author and editor Rami Khouri: Whose Crimes? Against Whose Humanity? This is a good article of a certain Arab liberal genre – well […]
One of the things British diplomats do in foreign parts is study the local media, to keep up with the obvious news but also to follow in a deeper way what makes those societies tick. Armed with good basic background understanding, they then fan out to talk to the editors […]
Peter Preston gives a rather overwritten analysis of Serbia and its prospects for joining the EU – see eg the obscure Paul Anka reference. Why, he asks, is the EU mumbling about bringing the former Yugoslavia space (plus Albania) into its ranks? Partly because the EU mumbles about everything. Partly […]
This story shows what is wrong with ‘EU Foreign Policy’. As previously posted, in dealing with difficult problems a thematic, sustained and firm approach can bring positive results. Especially if it is thematic, sustained and firm. In this case the EU responds reasonably firmly to terrible killings by the Uzbekistan […]
A familar argument heard against the the 1996 Dayton Peace Accords in Sarajevo is that in setting up a two Entity structure for post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina they ‘legitimized genocide’, namely by accepting Republika Srpska as one of the two Entities (the other being called, somewhat confusingly, the ‘Federation of Bosnia […]
Are international tribunals for war crimes suspects a Good Idea? And if so, are they being Done Well? If not, does that mean that the Idea is in fact not so Good? Two excellent pieces on these themes: one by John Lloyd, the other by Bill Montgomery. It goes without […]
Responding to my earlier posting about Craig Murray flying the flag on his car before presenting his credentials, a reader helpfully points us to some detailed guidance on the issue: https://flagspot.net/flags/xf-dipl.html. Thus: The only still-relevant mention of flag usage by diplomats is Article 20 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on […]
Iain Dale urges his vast army of fans to read Total Politics Issue 2 – and one article in particular. Indeed.
