I have been invited to take part in a debate in London later this year to discuss the proposition that "Western Policy in the Balkans since 1991 has been a Disaster". As someone involved in formulating part of that policy I am down to argue against this proposition. What to […]
Are political processes and indeed state structures based largely on ‘ethnicity’ or ‘national’ principles Good, or Bad? As we had an amicable exchange about the latest tensions in the Balkans the other evening, a former senior colleague of mine said something to the effect that it was high time in modern Europe […]
Now and again one comes across an utterly awesome YouTube item which transcends all known categories of excellence and human interest. Such as this.
Nazism or Communism? Which was ‘worse’? And why? I sent the FCO some thoughts on this subject when I was HM Ambassador in Warsaw. I pointed out that today’s Europe would look and feel rather different if Hitler was lying embalmed in Berlin just as Lenin lies creepily in Moscow. […]
Back in 2006 I had an amicable email joust with London on the subject of our Balkans policy, consistency or otherwise thereof. The point was made by HQ that the FCO would be a depressing place if we did not have lively disagreements or felt that our policy was watertight. To […]
This rather overexcited piece on the attack on the US Embassy in Belgrade is catching some attention. The author is one Stephen Schwartz, former Trotskyist-style Leftist who has undergone a metamorphosis into a sui generis new category of moderate US Muslim neocon. Nice niche marketing. One thing about Trotskyists (and it seems former […]
My former colleague from my South Africa days Roy Reeve is now leading a vast mission to export EU police and justice systems to Kosovo. This startlingly expensive exercise aimed at a fast-forward modernizing of Kosovo in a way a goose is forcibly fattened to produce foie gras will quickly come up against […]
The fine diplomatic art of briefing journalists badly. Or "How to be Clever – but not Wise".
I have been busy helping teach young diplomats some of the Darker Arts of diplomacy. Part of the course involved us all filling in a personality profile questionnaire, which purported to show what sort of person we were and how we might respond to problems in terms of the four categories above. My […]
Back in the early 1980s as a junior Second Sec Pol/Info at the Embassy in Belgrade I now and then would accompany the then Ambassador Edwin Bolland on his regional visits round the country. Edwin Bolland (later Sir Edwin) was a fascinating if complex senior colleague. On these long tours […]
