The COVID-19 labour crisis and its impact on women workers
Results of the ‘Improved productivity through better labour legislation in North Macedonia’ Project “Globally, women will likely experience a significant burden on their time given their multiple care...
View ArticleSustainability Sells
Almost everyone is aware that we need to live as much as we can sustainably. Fashion choices are a big part of it. Maybe you have decided to buy more second-hand clothes or tried to go one month...
View ArticleNow is the time to speed up the move away from coal
Unabated coal burning does serious damage. As the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy, it’s cheap and plentiful, but it comes at a different sort of cost. Coalmines and coal-processing...
View ArticleThe Important Role of the OSCE in Strengthening European Security
For audiences outside of Vienna (where its headquarters are based), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would benefit from demystification, and this is why I have decided to...
View ArticleA PLACE IN THE WORLD
What does the future hold for us all, and what will be the UK’s role in in? This week the UK has published its first Integrated Review. This is a public document, the fruit of a long period of analysis...
View ArticleA “Gesamtkonzept” for UK foreign and security policy
During my career in the UK’s foreign service I have experienced how British foreign policy can be both stable and flexible at the same time. Does that sound like a paradox? It is entirely logical....
View ArticleProtecting our people
“My boy is back. Thanks for all the hard work that helped make this happen!” The tweet sent late morning on 4 April 2020 shows two happy faces. Father and son reunited again in the UK. It was a...
View ArticleThe Integrated Review and Disarmament
The Government’s Integrated Review (IR) of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy was published on 16 March. Entitled ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’, it sets out the Government’s...
View ArticlePartners
No country in the modern world can alone face the many security challenges of today – from climate change to pandemics, transnational crime to cyber-attacks. We all need partners and friends. We all...
View ArticleA changing world – the UK’s Integrated Review and Libya
In the decade since Libya’s 17 February Revolution, we have seen major global changes: growing challenges such as climate change, Covid-19, organised crime and terrorism; rapid technological change;...
View ArticleSpurring UK German technology collaboration to fight online harms
In March 2021, the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) and the North Rhine Westphalian Cyber Crime Agency ZAC invited UK and...
View ArticleDiplomatic lessons 6, Berlin 1998-2002: Pendulums
Before our first child was born in 1992, we studied best practice in bringing up babies. Two pieces of expert advice stuck out (NOTE: DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE). First, babies should always be laid...
View ArticleAn update for UK nationals living in and visiting Europe
In recent weeks, inaccurate media reports around the new rules for UK nationals living in and travelling to Europe may have caused confusion, so I want to lay out the facts of what our new relationship...
View ArticleWilton Park reflects on the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
In March 1968 His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited Wiston House to open the 100th conference of Wilton Park since its founding in 1946. Originally hosted at a Prisoner of War...
View ArticleFCDO Historians explain the Duke of Edinburgh’s unique contribution to...
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was one of the world’s most travelled men. As well as accompanying Her Majesty The Queen on all of her official overseas visits, he made over 620 solo visits to...
View ArticleUpdate for UK nationals in Austria and a new Q&A session
EDIT: Thanks for all your questions. We will start publishing answers shortly. If you are a UK national who was living legally in Austria before 1 January 2021, you need to apply for a new residency...
View ArticleA price for freedom
Of the many freedoms that make up a democratic and fair society, the importance of freedom of media is one of the most often overlooked. World Press Freedom Day is a chance to remind ourselves of the...
View ArticleDiplomatic lessons 7, Berlin 2002-2006: work isn’t everything
One of the first mornings of my career break, as I dropped the kids off at school, I ran into an Embassy colleague. “How the mighty have fallen,” he said. I couldn’t think of a witty response. In 2002,...
View ArticleMedia Freedom
We have all faced challenges during the pandemic that have impacted on our way of living. Media workers found themselves on the frontlines from the very start. Journalists, photographers,...
View ArticleThe Vital Role of the OSCE in Elections
Elections are a critical part of our democracy. They enable individual voters to hold those in public office to account and to determine who occupies leadership positions: whether as Presidents, as...
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