Carne Ross of Independent Diplomat says that old-fashioned diplomacy has had its day: Conventional embassies and their ambassadors are equally ill-suited to today’s challenges. The European foreign service, whose embryonic form already exists in the Council Secretariat, is awaiting its first orders once the EU’s Lisbon treaty is ratified. Like […]
Here’s a funny thing. The European Union has all sorts of firm things to say – and enforce – about how we should live nicely to save the planet. Think of all those permits off-shore oil companies need to do anything which might damage the oceanic environment. And the various […]
Guardian writer Jonathan Steele dies, and as such goes straight to Hell. He is greeted warmly by the Devil, who praises his life’s work and offers him a choice of bijou accommodation. Jonathan peers uneasily through three windows. In the first cell is Tito, screaming as he twists impaled on a […]
Have soared! The Treasury statistics show that the UK’s net contribution to the EU will increase from £4.1 billion this year to £6.4 billion in 2010/11… Last night the Conservatives branded government "incompetence" for the rise in contributions. The Opposition said the increased payments were the result of the "selling […]
A lot of issues are a bit like living next to a mountain which is so lofty and all-dominating that you stop noticing the vast shadow it casts, fretting over which tree gives you shade instead. Take this erudite and trenchant essay (h/t Samizdata) about the deep problems of the […]
If you are looking for a good example of why the Bosnia situation is so problematic, take national symbols. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Entities formally established under the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995. The other is Republika Srpska. In principle any citizen of […]
William Hague’s interview with the Independent earlier this week was especially gloomy about Bosnia: Mr Hague, who also had extensive meetings with political leaders in a visit to Bosnia last autumn, said he feared the tensions could deteriorate into something worse. He said: "In some form [Bosnia] could break down […]
My thoughts on Bosnia as registered in a letter to the Independent have been picked up in Bosnia by the Dnevni Avaz newspaper (Bosniac/Muslim), prompting the expected surge of abusive comments from readers. But lawks, what a photo from pre-grey hair days.
At last, the man himself: I am proud of my record in combating anti-Semitism. I have used my seat in the European Parliament to highlight how it still festers in parts of Poland. I am active in the European Friends of Israel. I am equally proud of my Party’s record. […]
There have been strong reactions in ‘Western’ capitals to the latest punishment handed out to Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, the key effect of which is to stop her running in the next round of national elections. Malaysia too is dismayed. President Sarkozy and the British government are talking […]
