Back from Berlin. Maybe I was in the wrong place on the night, but there seemed to be a remarkable number of road-blocks near the Brandenburg Gates to keep the public well back from the assembled global VIPs. By which I mean hundreds of yards away. A curious and depressingly […]
Welcome Iain Dale readers Update: A good piece in the Guardian by Simon Jenkins on the wider politics of all this. Max Atkinson suggests (see Comments below) that the Sun‘s use of this story is ‘fishy’. So what if it is? Labour have enjoyed the Sun’s vivid support for many […]
Some key points about the scramble for the top EU jobs which you will not read about in the media. The Lisbon Treaty creates two new roles: President of the European Council (‘President of Europe’); and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy (‘EU Foreign Minister’). But with these jobs […]
Back from training EU officials in Mediation techniques, with an eye on the role of mediation at the international level. One of our role-play examples featured an attempt by an imaginary Head of Mission in an imaginary country trying to mediate between his Deputy and a younger Political Officer over […]
David Aaronovitch (who like David Miliband comes from a family steeped in High Marxism) has a vigorous go at David Cameron this morning over the Jedwabne/Kaminski issue. There are already three David’s in this story. But what to do? Co zrobi
Reader Norman Fraser takes me to task for disagreeing with David Aaronovitch: No Charles this will just not do. You are attempting an act of heroic sophistry here and you are clearly not up to it. Quibbling about the words in one article is just not enough. There is too […]
Former senior diplomat Sir Christopher Meyer is busy describing what he sees as a decline in the influence and technique of British diplomacy: New Labour’s obsessive reliance on the alchemy of consultants has infected much of Whitehall. The culture of targets, set by the Treasury, has acquired the madness and […]
Honduras itself, according to Ed Morrissey: Zelaya had attempted to use the army to promulgate his illegal referendum on allowing presidents to seek more than one term, with ballots stashed for the purpose. Now he won’t have any authority over the army at all, which will temporarily take its orders […]
A reader points me to this purposeful article on the philosophical limits on Power by a former Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald: The difference is that when you find yourself possessed of power, accountability quite suddenly broadens in the most alarming ways. This is very disturbing. Opinions are easy […]
I have just found this glowing compliment over at politics.co.uk. Glowing, but with a sting: There’s a lot to be said for this blog from former diplomat Charles Crawford. For those with an interest in international affairs and diplomacy this site is an absolute must. The look of the site could certainly […]
