Public diplomacy Archives

Where is the future of internet governance?0
- Public diplomacy
- 25th February 2020
Internet governance – understood by governments, private sector and civil society as the application of rules and procedures with regard to the internet – is a growing area of policy-making.

But in the second half of the last decade, digital and internet policy was increasingly dominated by realpolitik. Differing views on how the internet should, and can, be tamed and shaped abound – meaning wildly different digital policies in different countries, and real questions for governments in an increasingly interconnected world. As a result, issues surrounding internet governance have come into sharper focus – with national interests and power struggles becoming increasingly obvious.

The most recent example was accusations that the United States is trying ..
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Disarmament blog: the P5 meet in London 0
- DIPLO Blog, Public diplomacy
- 21st February 2020
Skip to content Aidan Liddle
UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament
21st February 2020 Geneva, Switzerland
Disarmament blog: the P5 meet in London Last week saw a major milestone in preparations for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in April, when the five NPT Nuclear Weapon States met at Lancaster House in London for their ninth annual ‘P5’ conference.
We began the Conference by welcoming the new RevCon President-designate, Gustavo Zlauvinen of Argentina, and the chairs of the three Main Committees, collectively known as the Bureau. It was useful to hear more about what they thought the key issues for the RevCon would be, what a successful outcome might look like, and what they thought the P5 could do to help achieve it.
In the afternoon, we continued the P5 Conference tradition of a civil society segment. This one was bigger and better than ever: thanks to our partners at King’s College London and the European Leadershi..
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Žan Pol Bled održao predavanje u čast 180 godina diplomatije između Francuske i Srbije 0
- Public diplomacy, Tekstovi na srpskom
- 17th February 2020
Povodom obeležavanja 180 godina diplomatskih odnosa Srbije i Francuske danas je o ovoj temi u Svečanoj sali Srpske akademije nauka i umetnosti podrobno govorio francuski istoričar Žan-Pol Bled, počasni profesor na Sorboni u Parizu i inostrani član SANU. Foto: Miroslav Dragojević Od začetaka srpsko-francuskih diplomatskih veza 1838. do današnjih dana, prema rečima profesora Bleda, bilo
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What will you do?0
- DIPLO Blog, Public diplomacy
- 13th February 2020
Skip to content Matt Field
British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Part of #BeyondPlastic UK in Bosnia and Herzegovina
13th February 2020 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
What will you do? In November this year, the UK and Italy will together host the UN Climate Change Conference, popularly called COP 26, in Glasgow. It is a great responsibility, but one which both of our governments are enthusiastic and determined to deliver on.
The situation facing all of us today is critical. The science is clear – climate change is real and it is threatening our future. Current actions fall far short of what is needed to limit the catastrophic damage to our lives, and those of our children. It is already evident in the extreme weather we see more of – droughts, flooding, storms, and melting ice caps – and we can expect more ahead of us. It will massively impact on our food production, our health, and our very lives. Our oceans are increasingly full of plastic, our biodiversity shrinking, and ..
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Manchester: International links and ambition 0
- DIPLO Blog, Public diplomacy
- 11th February 2020
Skip to content Peter Jones
Chief Operating Officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Guest blogger for Foreign Office
11th February 2020
Manchester: International links and ambition A second evacuation plane, carrying over 200 passengers, travelled from Wuhan to the UK over the week-end. As colleagues are all too aware, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation on 30 January, has been a big part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s crisis work so far this year to support British Nationals at risk.
Last Monday, I visited Manchester as part of a British Foreign Policy Group (BFPG) series of national engagement events. Wuhan was a hot topic of conversation, but not for the reasons you might expect. Manchester and Wuhan have been sister cities since 1986. In the last 3 decades, their city-to-city partnership has created and strengthened business links, sporting and cultural ties, fostered skills and expertise exchange, an..
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How the British residence in Vienna was rescued: 1945-1950 0
- DIPLO Blog, Public diplomacy
- 11th February 2020
Skip to content Leigh Turner
Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of UK in Austria
11th February 2020 Vienna, Austria
How the British residence in Vienna was rescued: 1945-1950 “It is open to doubt whether this location in Vienna is really suitable for the Minister’s residence… it can in no way be considered a pleasant district in which to live.”
How times change!
Historic papers we recently unearthed about the restoration of the British ambassador’s residence at Metternichgasse 6 in Vienna after 1945 contain fascinating nuggets.
The residence was built in 1873 for the British government by the Austrian architect Viktor Rumpelmayer. After the Anschluss in 1938, it was sold to the National Socialist Flying Corps, and in 1945 became the property of the Austrian government. The excellent “Room for Diplomacy”, by my former Foreign office colleague Mark Bertram, sets out its history. This pre-war pi..
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