Here is a major piece I have written for Aeon on the way states emerge or de-emerge, and the specific case of Kosovo/Serbia. Thus: Miloševi? had some good points, but his willingness to use violence against his neighbouring republics repulsed those Western nations that might have accepted his logic. In […]
My Commentator piece about the notable developments last night in Parliament, noting three reasons why all is not (yet) lost: First and foremost, we risked ending up helping President Obama wriggle off an embarrassing immediate hook (the Syria regime boldly stepping across his own half-hearted ‘red line’) but without really […]
Two more superb American articles about Egypt. One by Adam Garfinkle looms at the very big picture and has some mightily wise words to say on the logic of political change: We can see in past developments leading to liberal democracy the dialectical relationships among technological changes, social mobilization, economic […]
My new piece for The Commentator: The main reason why I think it’s almost better for Western governments to say as little as possible in these grim circumstances rather than make loud statements of condemnation is that words without action look ‘weak’. Any statements made are mainly for domestic and […]
You’ll all be pleased to know that at long last you can sign up to one of my lively and memorable Negotiation Skills masterclasses, thanks to the good offices of Guardian MasterClasses: This is an exclusive opportunity to join Charles Crawford in a small group for an intensive workshop that […]
It’s pretty obvious that the ill-fated Russia re-set button produced before a bemused Sergey Lavrov by an excited Hillary Clinton back in 2009 is now sitting prominently in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s famed Museum of Diplomatic Curiosities, an exhibit put there for young diplomats to show them how not to […]
Another day, another attempt to broker a deal betwen Israel and the Palestine Authority, this time with John Kerry leading the charge. Who knows, maybe this one will get somewhere. Perhaps the generalised shambles in Egypt and across the Middle East will create a sense that if there has to […]
Here is another article fretting feebly over the fact that the European Union is ‘punching below its weight’ in global negotiations: Although the EU is a minority bloc within the General Assembly and Human Rights Council (HRC), its power resources could in principle be wielded to help the EU gain […]
This wonderful piece by Helena Morrissey is potentially a national debate-shifter. It says more or less everything I think about why the European Union is a fading force (my emphasis): My personal experiences of dealing with the EU on issues I am involved with have served to reinforce my view […]
Round at the FCO yesterday I had a chat with some people who know what they are talking about on the increasingly strange case of Julian Assange and the Ecuador Embassy. It turns out that the costs of keeping a close eye on him continue to rise, although of course […]
