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Latest News
- In this new book, Brendan Donnelly and Hugh Dykes, both former Conservative parliamentarians, critically review British attitudes towards the European Union, particularly those of the media and political classes. They...
- Federal Union held its AGM and annual conference on 17 March 2012. The morning session, entitled “Can the European Union be saved?”, looked at the European treaty agreed at the...
- By John Parry Review of “The Council of Europe” by Martyn Bond (Routledge Global Institutions Series, price £75 hardback) It was summer 1949. In the village of Le Hohwald, tucked...
Latest Blog Entries
- How the world turns - 20/05/2012It is not only the world of politics that is turned upside down by the European banking crisis and the ineffectual way in which political leaders are dealing with it. ...
- Authentic euroscepticism - 20/05/2012A very interesting article in the Daily Telegraph last Friday by Jeremy Warner (read it here) sums up the eurosceptic dilemma and reveals the perverse nature of the way they...
- Overwhelming - 18/05/2012This blog has described before the difficulties associated with Greek departure from the eurozone. It would reduce the Greeks to a cash or even barter economy for a while, and...
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special relationship Archive
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Can we be best friends with France?
Posted on 28/03/2008 | 1 CommentThis blog does not normally get excited over state visits, preferring supranational institutions to intergovernmental diplomacy. Institutions are based on rules, so people can be held to the decisions they have taken, as well as making possible some kind of openness and accountability too. The... -
The thrill of power
Posted on 16/01/2008 | 3 CommentsSome interesting speculation by Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times yesterday on the motivations of politicians. They want excitement – like anyone else, I suppose – and they find excitement in a crisis. He spoke to an official involved in British government crisis management: “What... -
Who wants to be a superpower?
Posted on 28/11/2007 | 2 CommentsThe discussion following foreign secretary David Miliband’s speech in Bruges on 15 November was all about the prime minister’s intervention in the text. In case you missed it, the version actually delivered on the day was different in a number of respects from the version... -
Over-compensation
Posted on 16/07/2007 | No CommentsWho could possibly object to what Douglas Alexander said in his Washington speech last week? (Read it here.) He is the newly-appointed secretary of state for international development, and so naturally takes an interest in the wider context of international politics. It wouldn’t be possible... -
What to do about Guantanamo?
Posted on 22/06/2007 | No CommentsI was on 18 Doughty Street this evening, discussing various issues on the new internet TV station devoted to politics. Various points came up, including the European summit (obviously) but also there was mention of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Apparently an e-mail is... -
Soft in the head
Posted on 17/02/2007 | No CommentsBy Richard Laming Published in The Spectator, 17 February 2007 Sir: Tony Blair misunderstands the notion of ‘soft power’ when he uses it to refer to the non-military aspects of government foreign policy (Leading article, 10 February). Joseph Nye, coining the phrase in The Paradox... -
Mortgaged to the Yanks
Posted on 04/01/2007 | 9 CommentsA documentary on BBC4 last night about the debt that Britain racked up after the second world war borrowing money from the Americans. The presenter was Sir Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to the United States: he made quite a good presenter, perhaps a better... -
Fair to Blair
Posted on 19/12/2006 | 1 CommentAn epitaph for the Blair era was published today by Chatham House, the respected and independent foreign policy think tank. “Blair’s foreign policy and its possible successor(s)”, written by outgoing Director Victor Bulmer-Thomas, pulls no punches in setting out Blair’s achievements and failures. It makes... -
Suits you
Posted on 15/11/2006 | No CommentsBritain is no longer a sovereign state: it’s official. Summoned to give evidence to the United States Congress on the progress of the war in Iraq, Tony Blair jumps to attention. A video link is set up so that he can explain his thinking and... -
Banging on about Europe
Posted on 02/10/2006 | 2 CommentsDavid Cameron, speaking at the start of the Tory party conference this week in Bournemouth, called for people to stop “banging on about Europe”. Sorry, David, that’s not really me. But, at least the man is consistent. He gave a major speech entitled “A new...
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