The Russian government’s disagreement with London over the British Council and its status intensifies. Points worth bearing in mind include: most if not all governments including the Russians ‘sell’ (or at least levy an administrative charge for) certain things through their Embassies abroad as part of normal diplomatic business (see eg […]
I attended a Mediation in London yesterday as an observer, part of the final process of my qualifying as a professional Mediator. Most Mediations settle the dispute, often saving the parties vast sums of money. Plus unresolved Mediations at least clear the air and can enable the parties quietly […]
Lying is an interesting phenomenon in politics and diplomacy. Oscar Wilde had various thoughts on the subject of Lying from a high aesthetic point of view. I can not recall encountering an example of outright lying in my time in the civil service. British people including bureaucrats use all sorts of […]
My own near-death experience with Leaks came back in the mid-1980s when I was in the FCO Planning Staff as the official speech-writer for Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe. Part of the job involved checking draft speeches prepared by other FCO Departments, usually with a view to effecting radical improvements […]
The Civil Service takes letters from members of the public seriously. Apart from anything else, they alas exist. Once they have been placed on someone’s desk they have to go somewhere, and unless they are simply incomprehensible utter rubbish (a non-trivial proportion by the way, usually involving HM The Queen, MI6 […]
If diplomacy is all about Communication, a lot depends on the interpreters. Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski visited the United Kingdom in late 2006. After a good private discussion at No 10 the President and PM Tony Blair faced the usual joint media event. A Polish journalist asked the President if more should be done […]
Diplomats and the media like to talk a lot about Stability. Stability is good, instability is not. They maybe have a point. Not much good usually comes out of heavy political instability. Unless it is the overthrow of a bad regime or dictator, in which case it is not instability […]
Back in April 1986 I was the FCO Resident Clerk on duty on the night US warplanes attacked a number of targets in Libya. The then British Government led by Margaret Thatcher of course knew this was coming, having given permission for some of the US aircraft to deploy from […]
