The ever-busy International Crisis Group have written quite a good paper about the current Bosnia and Herzegovina interlocking impasses (so to speak). Here it is. One point of interest. Back at Harvard in 1998 I wrote a long paper about the Dayton Peace Process which posed a challenging question: is […]
Some key points about the scramble for the top EU jobs which you will not read about in the media. The Lisbon Treaty creates two new roles: President of the European Council (‘President of Europe’); and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy (‘EU Foreign Minister’). But with these jobs […]
Back from training EU officials in Mediation techniques, with an eye on the role of mediation at the international level. One of our role-play examples featured an attempt by an imaginary Head of Mission in an imaginary country trying to mediate between his Deputy and a younger Political Officer over […]
David Aaronovitch (who like David Miliband comes from a family steeped in High Marxism) has a vigorous go at David Cameron this morning over the Jedwabne/Kaminski issue. There are already three David’s in this story. But what to do? Co zrobi
Here is a must-read analysis by William Voegeli on the long-term results of tax competition between Texas and California. Many tough passages: It’s not surprising, then, that an intense debate rages over which model is more satisfactory and sustainable. What is surprising is the growing evidence that the low-benefit, low-tax […]
Former senior diplomat Sir Christopher Meyer is busy describing what he sees as a decline in the influence and technique of British diplomacy: New Labour’s obsessive reliance on the alchemy of consultants has infected much of Whitehall. The culture of targets, set by the Treasury, has acquired the madness and […]
Honduras itself, according to Ed Morrissey: Zelaya had attempted to use the army to promulgate his illegal referendum on allowing presidents to seek more than one term, with ballots stashed for the purpose. Now he won’t have any authority over the army at all, which will temporarily take its orders […]
A reader points me to this purposeful article on the philosophical limits on Power by a former Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald: The difference is that when you find yourself possessed of power, accountability quite suddenly broadens in the most alarming ways. This is very disturbing. Opinions are easy […]
Former President of Republika Srpska Biljana Plavsic has left her prison cell in Sweden to return to Belgrade: a land where war criminals are heroes, according to Nenad Pejic: Serbia has been — and continues to be — in a state of denial about the 1990s wars for more than […]
On a previous posting of mine about the BNP, one Chris made this comment: After the brouhaha of the BNP Question Time this interview https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nh6w4 with Kwame Kwei-Armah went unnoticed on Radio 7 (as most things do) and yet (some 26 minutes in) we hear strikingly similar concerns voiced about multiculturalism […]
