Headlines pouring out over what Sir Michael Wood said this morning to the Chilcot Inquiry: Straw rejected advice that Iraq invasion was ‘unlawful’ Let me give you my potted view of this as a lawyer by training but not practice. The various FCO and other documents (some formerly SECRET) now […]
Here from euobserver is a detailed account of the goings-on behind the EU scenes, as everyone tries to work out how the new EU External Action Service will be structured. And who will get which jobs, since that will have a huge influence on the way it all works (or […]
The tumultuous launch of ADRg Ambassadors gives way to a requirement to write an article for DIPLOMAT magazine about Diplomats and Mediation. One interesting theme is ‘neutrality’. Is it possible for any international mediator in a dispute or problem to be truly impartial, and does it matter if that is […]
I have been asked by the FCO to give a talk there later in January to a group of foreign visitors about Using Democracy for Peace. Or maybe it was Using Peace for Democracy. I forget. One or the other. As always the Balkans is/are a laboratory for cutting-edge research […]
Derek Tonkin, former British Ambassador to Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, knows a few things about that part of the world. Hence it is good to see him helping with this lively site, Network Myanmar. See for example this page with a long list of handy links to articles about Myanmar […]
Here is the as yet unofficial transcript of part of Alastair Campbell’s session with the Chilcot Inquiry. Quick work to get it up so fast. Others have dumped on the performance of this New Labour eel yesterday. See Paul Waugh describing how my old boss Rod Lyne did the business: Campbell […]
A reader says nice things about my long posting on the Copenhagen Negotiating Disaster (for the EU at least) but also asks a terrific question: A remarkable piece of analysis, Charles, with fascinating insights for the outsider. I detect a theme emerging in your posts – a sort of neo-realpolitik […]
A group of former senior British diplomats (self included) have come together to set up a new top-end international strategic advice and dispute resolution/dispute management service: ADRg Ambassadors. Here is the website, just launched. Check it out, including the excellent and impressive list of policy areas and languages the team […]
Who does not remember that back in 2005 the witty literati on the Blair team at No 10 affectionately used to call Chancellor Gordon Brown Mrs Rochester, in honour of his wild shrieks from the Whitehall attic against the emerging EU Budget deal, under which the UK surrendered part of its […]
Remember drippy Comparative Politics? Now with added EU! New EU High Representative Baroness Ashton: The EU is now in a position to assume a "stronger, more credible role in the world," the nominee for the EU’s top foreign policy post says… Aargh. Who drafts this lame stuff for her? This person? […]
