Here’s my Telegraph piece on the NATO summit in Warsaw. Thus: Poland’s President Duda wonders what President Obama will say to him privately about Poland’s constitutional wranglings. President Obama has his mind on yet more ghastly shootings back home. France’s President Hollande eyes his horrible polling numbers and wonders whether […]
The Chilcot Report saga prompts me into reposting a speech I gave in Germany in 2004 about Iraq, diplomacy and pretty much everything. Here it is in full. Looking back on it now I conclude that it’s too long, repetitive/involved and lacks ‘Structure’. Not clear what two or three key […]
I plan to write lots of things here on how the Brexit situation casts light on Negotiation Theory and Practice. I won’t be alone. The problems and opportunities created by the UK’s Brexit vote will give negotiation pundits material for decades, maybe centuries. Let’s start with some very big picture […]
Once upon a time when I was UK ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was invited to Pale to give a live TV interview to Republika Srpska TV. After I refused to do the interview in a room featuring a picture of war crimes indictee Radovan Karadžić and we went […]
Here’s my first post-Brexit vote piece for the Telegraph that’s been noticed here and there: Now what? In particular, do we leave the European Union, or not? Above all, what’s the Plan? The core possibilities are these: We leave the EU and try to become a sort of European Singapore […]
Blimey. Now what? Some quick thoughts (in the order I think them) on the ensuing negotiation with EU partners as London markets bounce back from the early shock. First and foremost, this is a magnificent momentous day in the global history of democracy. It represents a strong majority of one […]
Here’s the final version (in Polish – thanks Google Translate) of an interview I have given to Wiadomości about sundry Brexit issues. They did not use everything I said (and why should they?). Here’s the full text in case anyone is interested: 1. Both campaigns seem to have indulged in […]
Here is my piece today for the Telegraph as the referendum campaign staggers over the line. Some good stuff: Back in the mid-2000s, Tony Blair addressed the annual gathering of British ambassadors. In the Q&A our then Ambassador in Paris warned the Prime Minister that London’s EU policies were going […]
What do UK diplomats make of the Brexit debate? Here’s the locus classicus for the Remain option, namely the former UK ambassador to Brazil, my colleague at the Ambassador Partnership Dr Peter Collecott: There is room for legitimate debate over the immediate effects of a decision to leave the EU. […]
As this tumultuous (or horrible, nasty, revolting, angry, hateful, absorbing, glorious – pick your adjective) UK exercise in referendum democracy nears the end, what about the way the two broad camps have presented themselves? Leave The Leave tendency has struggled to explain exactly what it wants instead of EU membership, and […]
