Here’s a bold idea. That the peoples of the ‘Western Balkans’ (ie mainly the former Yugoslavia area) push out the febrile internationals and sit down for some hard talking: With the Powers pushed out the locals – assuming they actually want to settle their disputes – could then grapple with the choreography […]
Do any diplomats out there recall anything from their careers about the amazing story of South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee, who was kidnapped in 1978 by the North Korean regime but managed to escape in 1986 and seek political asylum at the US Embassy in Vienna? It’s this latter event […]
How far is it reasonable to expect diplomats to predict radical developments in their host countries? And what if they do predict them wisely and well – but no-one back home wants to listen? The full gory story is in the latest issue of DIPLOMAT: There are less dramatic examples. […]
Remember my suggestions for sowing discord in Gaddafi’s ranks? Key idea, never known to fail: Divide and Rule. Sending public (and even better private) messages to key people around Gaddafi offering them some sense of security (no prosecution by International Criminal Court?) if they jump ship is an important tool. […]
Then there is the other Gaddafi option, of proclaiming a polite ceasefire then launching an attack in the hope that it creates new facts on the ground faster than the NFZ forces can act to stop it. This is all about Gaddafi’s personal message of ‘negotiation’ with the rebels – […]
One of my first blog posts here described my own modest part as spokesperson for British policy on the night Ronald Reagan bombed Col Gaddafi back in 1986: As news of the attacks broke, the FCO switchboard was soon swamped with callers calling to express in vigorous terms their indignation […]
The text of the Libya UNSCR is here. Key point as Sir J Greenstock has just pointed out on Radio Four is this (emphasis added): Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take […]
No sooner had I put out the idea this morning that Gaddafi might do well not to blow Benghazi to bits but instead behave in a more guileful way than the cunning fellow proclaims a ceasefire! I knew of course that he swings by this blog now and again, but […]
Here’s something I sent to the Evening Standard – not sure if they used any of it: Perhaps the most difficult moral and legal question of our time is this one: “who is my neighbour?” Domestic law has moved a long way from an earlier tradition that what went […]
Today is the 8th anniversary of the assassination of Serbia’s dynamic young prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. And as the years drift by, Balkan conspiracy theories spread their twisted tentacles in more and more directions. Here for those who can use Google Translator are the mutterings of close Djindjic spin-doctor Vladimir […]
