A gush of media reporting on the start of the conflict in Bosnia back in 1992. This one by Tim Judah (who knows his Balkans) is smart but maybe too optimistic. Yes, the likelihood of horrible inter-ethnic fighting has subsided. But is what we have now really good enough and, […]
I have written something for Telegraph Blogs about Trust in Europe (and scorpions). I’l put up the link when there is one. It refers to this piece by Matthias Machnig, which, strive as I do, I simply cannot understand: Economic growth has reached the limits of what is ecologically viable. […]
Small ‘unofficial’ referendum in northern Kosovo – not many dead. In case you haven’t noticed, the Serb population of northern Kosovo have set up and run their own referendum on whether to accept rule by the institutions of Kosovo. The answer, to no-one’s surprise: No! As the EU knows to […]
Here is my new Daily Telegraph blog piece comparing the problems of the Eurozone with the fates of the USSR and former Yugoslavia. In those two cases (but for very different reasons) the Centre had became the problem and duly crashed, whereas in the case of the Eurozone the majority […]
One of the things I do on training courses aimed at telling people how to Write with Impact is to cite Shrek. Issues and Shrek are like onions. They have layers. No piece of writing can address all the layers of any problem. The trick is to show awareness of other layers but focus […]
Here in powerful fluent form is Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, speaking today in Berlin about Europe and the Eurozone. If anyone can find a better peacetime speech by any Polish Foreign Minister or any Polish politician ever, let it be produced! Not that it is perfect. Too many rather […]
Croatia is next in line to join the European Union. But this sort of thing, circulated by the eminent Centre for Research into Post-communist Economies, shows that beneath the surface – or even bang on it – a lot of nasty habits and people and instincts inherited from the communist […]
Former FCO Minister Denis MacShane MP has written a small but energetic book praising Kosovo’s independence: Why Kosovo Still Matters (sic). Here it is, a perfect Christmas stocking-filler, the more perfect if bought via this link so that I get a few groats from Amazon: The main interest of the book for […]
Most readers of this website are interested in one way or another in ‘foreign affairs’. As I have described on different occasions here, the heart of international diplomacy is the state. That idea in its modern form emerged from the Peace of Westphalia. Here are some passages from my 2009 […]
Sorry that there hasn’t been much blogging here recently. A sudden surge of work and a certain vivid domestic drama – about which I may write in due course (but don’t bank on it) – have been overwhelming me this week. Anyway, here I am marooned in Vienna Airport […]
