23rd April 2024
Good English – A Key to Panama’s Future Success
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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Forests in focus on International Day of Forests
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Russia – 25 years of broken hopes and smashed dreams
12th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How to learn English
British diplomats spend a lot of time learning foreign languages. Before each of my last four postings (in Vienna, Moscow, Berlin and Kyiv) I had the privilege of spending between four weeks and nine months on intensive language preparations. If you want to understand a country and its people, speaking the language helps. Conversely, the […]
11th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
A GREAT reminder of home
I’m just on the train back from a trip to New York City—my first excursion out of DC since arriving in the US at the end of November. Of course, I’ve been to NYC many times before (indeed Layla and I went there on our honeymoon) but it’s a very different experience to go to […]
11th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Looking ahead to 2012
The address of Pope Benedict XVI to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, at the start of each year, is always an opportunity to look ahead at the foreign policy challenges of coming months. 2012 was no exception, and I was struck by just how much of his Holiness’s wide ranging speech dovetailed […]
11th January 2012 Ottawa, Canada
The War of 1812
As we approach the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, Canadians have begun to reflect on its role in shaping what Canada is today. But this is also a chance for Britain to consider its own contribution to the conflict, and how its relationship with Canada has evolved over the past two centuries. The […]
11th January 2012 Bucharest, Romania
Great Britons in Romania: David Savage, Ben Wells and the Nightingales Children’s Project
There are many Brits doing great things in Romania, like David Savage and Ben Wells from the Nightingales Children’s Project, a charity based in Cernavoda, 200kms from Bucharest. David came to Romania in 1993 to work in a local orphanage, and soon realised that there was a large number of children living in the orphanage […]
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11th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Helping prevent child exploitation in Ukraine
People sometimes wonder what an embassy does; and what international co-operation really means. By way of an interesting concrete example, the British Embassy organised a visit late last year by experts from the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre to meet their Ukrainian counterparts. The CEOP experts also met Ukrainian and international NGOs […]
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11th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Beer, a waterfall and Britain’s biggest investment in Ethiopia
Yesterday I participated in a press conference to mark Diageo’s purchase of the Meta Abo brewery from the Government of Ethiopia. With a mountain forming the backdrop and its own waterfall, this has to be one of the most beautiful settings for a brewery anywhere in the world. This is Britain’s largest ever single investment […]
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10th January 2012 New York, USA
A Royal Honour for Sheila O’Connor
I had the privilege of being posted to the British Consulate-General in New York from 2006 to 2010. My role was Her Majesty’s Consul and Regional Manager for the UK Border Agency. It was a fantastic posting, and this past November, I was absolutely delighted to receive an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order […]
10th January 2012 Chevening, UK
Chevening Scholarships: How It All Began From Brunei Darussalam
The following article was written by Ms Andrea Yin Cheng Tay, a 2011/12 Chevening Scholar currently studying Masters of Science in Economics at The University of Nottingham. How it all began from Brunei Darussalam Everything feels like a blur image and that time has accelerated without you knowing it. I can still remember my relief […]
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10th January 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Happy New Year!
The successful Polish Presidency is over. But 2012 is set to be another year in Britain and Poland. Even if England were drawn in Ukraine, EURO 2012 will be a highlight here and a chance to showcase the best of Poland. For the UK, 9 January marks 200 days until the start of the Olympic […]