Finally! The ‘feedback’ compilation arrives from a course I ran a few months ago for EU colleagues in Brussels on the general theme of Ethical Dilemmas in Diplomacy. Everyone is dutifully tasked to complete these forms at the end of a course. A bundle of these forms show trends. Were the […]
Here’s an interesting one. The German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is homosexual. He has decided not to take his partner with him on official visits to countries where homosexuality is a prosecutable crime. His somewhat obscure argument as quoted in the excellent Spiegel Online: We want to promote the concept […]
The Daily Telegraph reports that the new EU Ambassador In Washington Joao Vale de Almeida is bent on elbowing out of the way such diplomatic minnows as HM Ambassador Nigel Sheinwald: Mr Vale de Almeida has stressed to Washington officials and politicians that under the EU’s’ Lisbon Treaty, he has […]
When the Soviet Union broke up, an interesting issue emerged: how should the FCO/HMG name (in English) the many new countries which had appeared on the world scene? Those of us at the policy coal-face had a radical idea. Go for the simplest option, ie the one most easy to […]
Have you read this production of mine from 2008? An extract: Recently I was a Harvard-sponsored seminar at which issues of international ‘humanitarian intervention’ and the Right to Protect were discussed. I recalled seeing signs as one entered Harvard Square: Cambridge is a Domestic Violence-Free Zone. I said that if you […]
This morning I appeared on LBC‘s Nick Ferrari Breakfast radio programme. I was invited to join Mehdi Hasan (New Statesman) to talk about the forthcoming visit to the UK of Pakistan’s President Zardari. Mehdi led off, unexpectedly (for me!) praising David Cameron for speaking out about the fact that elements in Pakistan […]
My piece analysing David Cameron’s high-profile speeches in Turkey and India has attracted some attention, and various well-taken comments. Part of the problem for a speechwriter for a top politician is to work out who the audience is, and craft the words accordingly. Most speeches of any consequence by (say) […]
See the wild reaction on the streets of Karachi, as angry but illiterate crowds protest against the British Prime Minister’s remarks about Pakistan and terrorism Tsk. It should either be Loo’s or Loos’. See also the distinguished role being played in the drama by HM High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam […]
In case you want even more on this business about Cameron/India/Pakistan (or even if you do not), read this businesslike piece by Hasan Suroor in The Hindu. It reminds us helpfully of one footling British diplomatic error after another: This is not the first time that a British leader has […]
My recent piece about the feebleness of Peter Mandelson’s speechwriters looked ahead to the coming international tour of David Cameron to see if his people would do a better job. NB folks, what follows is not about policy as such. It’s about speechwriting and diplomatic technique, and the way messages are […]
