OOOOOOH Douglas Alexander lands a supposedly devastating blow on William Hague over the Libya mission: "The British public are entitled to wonder whether, if some new neighbours moved into the foreign secretary’s street, he would introduce himself by ringing the doorbell or instead choose to climb over the fence in […]
The agonies continue at the LSE over the fact that it took Libyan money. Here is the sensible memo which an unhappy Fred Halliday wrote on the subject in October 2009. It reads quite well now. Here briskly defending what New Labour did by way of opening up to Libya is […]
Craig’s made a big effort to change his website. Here’s the result. Definitely a cleaner, sharper ‘look’, although some might wonder about his self-description: Former Ambassador, Human Rights Activist The experts in such matters always say that it’s best to brand yourself in terms of what you do now and […]
The Guardian gives us a handy reminder on Uprising Etiquette: A senior member of Benghazi’s revolutionary council told Martin: "they were carrying espionage equipment, reconnaissance equipment, multiple passports and weapons. This is no way to conduct yourself during an uprising. Gaddafi is bringing in thousands of mercenaries to kill us, most […]
Max Atkinson has been inviting readers to submit draft speeches for Doomed Dictators. Here are the seven entries, with three distinguished judges having to work out who wins. Of course it all depends quite how doomed the dictator thinks he (and it is usually a ‘he’) thinks he is. If […]
Back in January Venetia van Kuffeler and I interviewed William Hague for DIPLOMAT magazine. Here’s the result. DIPLOMAT’s publishing lead-times mean that it is not a ‘news’ magazine. So we aimed at more general questions exploring the Foreign Secretary’s philosophy and instincts in his job. The interview took place when Tunisia was […]
What is the argument about Libya and sanctions ‘really’ all about? It’s a Negotiation, as a shrewd and well-placed reader has written in to say: I was interested in your recent comment about Libyan Sanctions, which hits the nail on the head. Plus you can be sure that the tighter […]
A sharp-edged piece by James Rogers at European Geostrategy on what Cathy Ashton’s recent Budapest speech tell us about the EU’s vision of itself, or not: "The strength of the EU lies, paradoxically, in its inability to throw its weight around. Its influence flows from the fact that it is […]
Here is Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski yesterday in Washington: Events in the Middle East show that we are fast entering a new phase in the spread of democracy, or at least a new pluralism. People living under dictatorships are finding out who they are. They are realising that the […]
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 […]
