Nigel Sheinwald

It's an exciting time to be in Washington

The embassy hosted a fascinating discussion on US history and its politics with top British historian Simon Schama last night. He's in Washington to promote his four-part documentary "The American Future: A History." His documentary looks at some relevant issues through the lens of US history: jobs and the economy, wars overseas and immigration.

Simon Schama, myself and Thomas Friedman after watching selections from Professor Schama's documentary.

I think this event showcases the diversity of what we do at embassies. They are often thought of as creating political connections between governments. It's important to remember though that embassies build cultural relationships as much as political, defence and economic ones.

We're very busy at this embassy with both political and cultural exchanges. Professor Schama's talk is the first of three events leading up to the inauguration of President Obama on Tuesday. Dr Henry Kissinger will come tonight to give a lecture under the auspices of the Atlantic Council on trans-Atlantic issues under the new Administration. On Saturday, I'm hosting the Illinois delegation to the inauguration.

All three events will bring together people with an interest in the unique UK-US relationship. They will celebrate our cultural, academic and political ties at an exciting and rich moment in America's history and its relationship with its allies around the world.

Posted at 13:04 15 January 2009 by Nigel Sheinwald  |  Comments[2]

Washington, New York and the Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis has been the number one issue for the Washington Embassy in recent weeks.  It’s been raised in nearly every meeting I have had, with the Administration, Congress, business leaders, journalists and of course the Presidential campaigns.  And it’s been at the centre of the Presidential debates – I was lucky enough to attend the second and third, in Tennessee and in New York. 

Our small Embassy economic team, drawn from the UK Treasury, Bank of England and Foreign Office, has never been busier. Throughout the past few weeks there have been constant contacts between our Government, Bank of England and regulatory authorities and their American counterparts, which the Embassy has helped facilitate. Our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced a major package of measures to stabilise the banking sector last week. Last weekend, the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, both stayed at my Residence while meeting their counterparts at the IMF and World Bank. It was my job and that of my team to explain our approach to our contacts here ahead of those meetings. Last weekend’s meetings of G7 and G20 Ministers drew on the main elements of the British plan and provided a new level of international coordination on handling the crisis. 

This in turn informed the decisions taken at the Euro Group meetings last Sunday and yesterday’s European Summit in Brussels. We now have a detailed and clear European position coordinated with the United States and our other major financial partners. 

The crisis was the subject on everyone’s lips at the historic Al Smith dinner in New York yesterday evening at which both Senator McCain and Senator Obama spoke – with great wit and dignity. Among those I talked to, there was a welcome recognition of the role played by Gordon Brown and other European leaders, in consultation with the US Administration, in helping to find a way forward. 

Gordon Brown has explained the present position in an article in today’s Washington Post. This looks beyond the immediate stabilisation of the financial system to the need for major reform of the global financial architecture and a sound new regulatory framework. These will provide the best basis for avoiding a recurrence of the turbulence we have seen over the past year or more. The UK strongly supports the idea of holding a Leaders’ Summit in the near future to discuss a shared international response to the longer term issues thrown up by this first global financial crisis of the 21^st Century. 

I expect this set of issues to remain high on the Embassy’s agenda in the weeks and months ahead.

Posted at 15:55 17 October 2008 by Nigel Sheinwald  |  Comments[1]