Even the BBC has to concede: Romney ‘won’ the debate, massively. As diligent readers here know, it’s not what you say – it’s what you hear. And much of what you hear when someone is speaking is subliminal – all about eye-contact, body posture, energy, openness, positive enthusiasm. Mitt Romney […]
As a former diplomat turned wannabe speechwriter I have studied closely the latest Conference speech by Labour Party leader Ed Miliband. How to assess it from a technical point of view? And what does it tell us about a possible future Prime Minister’s approach to the great foreign policy issues […]
Hmm. Is the UK going to try to ‘repatriate’ powers from Brussels? And if so, what are the chances of success? It isn’t clear to me why the other EU member states would go along with this, unless we block something horribly important to them (such as the next Budget) […]
After this horror it gets even worse: Anna Wintour, the formidable British editor of American Vogue, has been named as a leading fundraiser in the re-election campaign of Barack Obama – an effort that has led to renewed speculation that she might be in line for a political appointment, potentially […]
Over at Hugh Hewitt in the USA, an unexpected comparison: ES: The Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election will have a major impact on every race in America for generations to come. HH: It’s a precursor election, 1979, Maggie Thatcher swept into power in England, took on the unions, and what followed? […]
You’ve probably been wondering what happened to that really cool Arab Spring stuff when all the young liberal Arabs we’ve been trying to find for so long finally got on Twitter and Facebook and linked up. And changed the world! So has Mark Steyn – read the whole piece (of course) […]
Derek Tonkin makes plenty more smart points in emails to me which he is pleased to see made available to a wider audience (edited and reorganised slightly by me for this format). See especially his wise concluding sentence. Thus: Sanctions In 1999 the UK Government completed a general study of […]
You are probably wondering what is my finest piece of writing about diplomatic life. I ask myself that question. The answer is here. A description for DIPLOMAT magazine of the astonishing sub-culture of Diplomatic Barnacles, those primitive life-forms that cling tenaciously to the local Diplomatic Corps and can never be […]
I have linked here to many pieces first spotted for me by The Browser, a well designed site which does nothing but identify interesting bits of work and link to them. Like the simple and superb Arts & Letters Daily but in a posher outfit. Why, in its early halcyon days it […]
Remember flying the Gay Rights Flag in Poland? Read this one if you haven’t done so previously – it’s a belter. Now a vibrant new edgy FCO public diplomacy issue emerges: when is it OK for a senior British diplomat to use the s*** word during a radio phone-in programme […]
