17th June 2013
Beirut, Lebanon
G8 leaders meet today and tomorrow in Northern Ireland, under the UK’s chairmanship. I’ve been lucky enough to be at five G8 Summits. For foreign policy junkies like me, they are an antidote to usual international conferences. The number at the table is small enough for a crunchy discussion. There is greater proximity to leaders. […]
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15th March 2013
Beirut, Lebanon
Today marks the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising. Lebanon now hosts almost 400,000 registered Syrian refugees, but the real number of Syrians here is over 1m. Imagine the impact of 15m refugees in the UK. Lebanon, lashed to Syria by history and geography, has responded with extraordinary generosity. With camps avoided for political reasons, […]
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3rd December 2012
Beirut, Lebanon
Britain and Lebanon are great traders, on the edge of our continents. The Phoenicians were masters of global trade 7000 years ago. Our moment came several millennia later, but we also built our success, in the 19th century, on the back of a readiness to pioneer, to voyage, and to do business. Diplomats cling to […]
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29th November 2012
Beirut, Lebanon
I’ve blogged previously about our work with the Palestinian veterans who fought with us in World War II, and questions of history and justice. Today is the Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Attention will rightly be focused on New York, where – just as Israel did in 1948 – Palestine is making […]
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10th October 2012
Beirut, Lebanon
Eisenhower said that if you can’t fix a problem, you should make it bigger. Lebanon is trying to fix a big problem – preventing the violence from Syria tipping it into instability. So far, it is doing well, and as I’ve argued, should not be fatalist about external factors (mindsoupblog). But for a country that […]
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16th March 2012
Beirut, Lebanon
Yesterday, I joined an inspirational conference on reconciliation and coexistence, led by interfaith NGO Adyan. It reminded me of the great Margaret Mead line – ‘Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.’ Beirut is of course the […]
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30th January 2012
Beirut, Lebanon
There is a joke that does the rounds in Beirut. Q: ‘What’s the definition of Lebanese long term thinking?’ A: ‘See you tomorrow’. Like many Lebanese jokes, there is truth in this. Of course, a focus on the short term is understandable, given the conflicts of the past, the volatility of the region, the interference […]
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