The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee today published a searching report on the Role of the FCO in UK Government. Here it is. And here is my own trenchant evidence, submitted in writing. I am not, it seems, grand enough these days to merit giving oral evidence. Sob. But read […]
A couple of pieces on the subject of speechwriting, by people with some form. One by Brian Jenner: Any closing questions, comments or additional advice? Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead! The other by Simon […]
Here is a strong example from Walter Russell Mead of elegant but tough foreign policy writing, this time on the increasingly dysunctional US/Pakistan relationship. Once upon a time India with its phony anti-Americanist ‘non-alignment’ as encouraged by massive Soviet penetration of the Indian establishment was the main reason for Washington to treat […]
Max Atkinson praises President Obama’s ‘masterful mood changes’ exemplified in part by his Osama Bin Laden televised address last night. You can see and read it at https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead Yet it’s much too long, with (as usual) too much Obama praising Obama, plus some of it is, ahem, just ghastly: […]
Back in deepest Oxfordshire, after a week in which I gave five set-piece presentations. One was at a Wilton Park conference on the general theme of Russia and Social Media. The second was at TEDxWarsaw, a coaching session in public speaking for some of the speakers at the main event. Then […]
Let’s try some SEO fun! Speech-writer. Writing speeches. Writing good speeches. Expert speech-writing. Public speaking expert. How to start a speech. Professional speechwriting. Speechwriting training. Public presentations training. Perfect public speaking. Yesterday I received a message through the site from a European parliament asking about training in public speaking for […]
Dominique Moisi is a clever and agreeable French intellectual. I met him once over lunch. Here he is, bewailing what he sees as the professional limitations of diplomats who fail to see convulsions coming: In the name of “realism,” diplomats and foreign-policy strategists are naturally conservative. Indeed, it is no […]
Is right here. Behold the bewilderment, bemusement and sheer baffledness of Professor Mike Gonzalez at positions taken by sundry Latin American leaders on the general subject of Col Gadaffi’s career prospects: Yet the response to the Libyan events from Latin America’s radicals has been perplexing and disturbing. Chávez himself has […]
I know, I know. Egypt is a big deal so I need to share my thoughts with you on it. But even though it’s only February 2011 we already have the winner for the Article of the Decade. It’s this one, by Clark Whelton, former speechwriter for New York City […]
You may have missed this fascinating blog entry by Jim Harvey of Allcow Communications, so here it is: I’m not easily impressed, and I’ve often found Foreign Office types to be snooty and dismissive of those of us who work in the ‘Del Boy’ world of sales and marketing, though […]
