Geoff Berridge

About G.R. Berridge

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So far G.R. Berridge has created 115 blog entries.

Gaza: Turkish mediation?

23 November 2023. The reasons for supposing that Turkey might emerge in pole position to mediate an end to the Israel-Hamas war should the opportunity ever arise.

Gaza: Turkish mediation?2023-11-23T09:07:16+00:00

China’s embassy in Ukraine

10 August 2023 Considerable attention has been focused on China’s participation in the Saudi-hosted talks at national security adviser level on Ukraine in Jedda over the weekend 5-6 August 2023, while Russia was not invited.

China’s embassy in Ukraine2023-11-16T10:39:35+00:00

‘Agri-food-and drink attachés’ for endangered seats

23 July 2023 The crisply styled Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has rediscovered and, in the modern way of things, rebranded the agricultural attaché. First installed in diplomatic missions after the First World War, not least those of the United States, this officer has re-appeared in some British missions abroad [...]

‘Agri-food-and drink attachés’ for endangered seats2023-07-23T18:22:34+01:00

Email crash

20 July 2023 My old Virgin Media email account has crashed yet again, so - like many others - I have given up on it. Anyone wishing to reach me who has not received a change of address message can do so via the CONTACT form, at the right-hand end of the top horizontal [...]

Email crash2023-10-23T17:13:28+01:00

Fleetwood Mac, ‘Perfect’ surprise

12 July 2023 About a week ago my friend and close neighbour, John Sandford-Smith, turned up at my door. In one hand he held a large tool I had lent him some time ago (he had forgotten I had told him I no longer needed it) and in the other [...]

Fleetwood Mac, ‘Perfect’ surprise2023-07-19T13:51:12+01:00

Diplomatic Security under a Comparative Lens—Or Not?

Eugenio Cusumano, Christopher Kinsey, eds. Diplomatic Security: A Comparative Analysis. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019. 280 pp. $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-5036-0898-6. “Diplomatic security” is the term now usually preferred to “diplomatic protection” for the steps taken by states to safeguard the fabric of their diplomatic and consular missions, the lives of their diplomatic and consular [...]

Diplomatic Security under a Comparative Lens—Or Not?2020-01-04T11:49:21+00:00

Barder, Brian, Brian Barder’s Diplomatic Diary

Barder, Brian, Brian Barder’s Diplomatic Diary, ed. Louise Barder (privately published: London, 2019), pp. 307. Paperback ISBN 978-1-944066-29-1; hardback ISBN 978-1-944066-25-3. Available from Amazon, as well as other booksellers. Sir Brian Barder, the senior British diplomat and author of the always sage and sometimes gripping What Diplomats Do, died in 2017 but, courtesy of the [...]

Barder, Brian, Brian Barder’s Diplomatic Diary2019-12-11T17:04:29+00:00

EU-UK negotiations: normal rules?

4 October 2019 The British government has at virtually the last minute submitted to the EU a detailed proposal on a new withdrawal agreement Read more.

EU-UK negotiations: normal rules?2020-06-03T13:56:07+01:00

Parliamentary democracy 11 – 0 Boris Johnson

24 September 2019 Today 11 justices of the UK Supreme Court unanimously declared the non-prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, to have unlawfully advised the Queen to suspend Parliament Read more.

Parliamentary democracy 11 – 0 Boris Johnson2020-06-03T16:32:17+01:00

Non-papers in Brexit negotiations

23 September 2019 On 19 September three ‘non-papers’ on the Irish backstop were submitted to the EU by the non-prime minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, Read more.

Non-papers in Brexit negotiations2020-06-03T13:59:24+01:00

Room for Diplomacy: The history of Britain’s diplomatic buildings overseas, 1800-2000

Mark Bertram, Room for Diplomacy: The history of Britain’s diplomatic buildings overseas, 1800-2000, 2nd ed. (Spire Books: Salisbury, 2017), pp. 479 incl. index, ISBN 978-1-904965-54-1 Mark Bertram joined the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works after reading architecture at Cambridge and remained in the civil service as architect, project manager, administrator, estate manager and – [...]

Room for Diplomacy: The history of Britain’s diplomatic buildings overseas, 1800-20002019-12-05T13:09:20+00:00

If at first you don’t succeed …

4 September 2019 lie, lie and lie again. This is the maxim that, as usual, guided Boris Johnson’s behaviour in the House of Commons last night. Read more.

If at first you don’t succeed …2020-06-03T14:00:23+01:00

EU negotiations with Johnson a waste of time

30 July 2019 Even were Johnson’s new Tory government to be serious about negotiating a new Brexit deal with the EU before 31 October – which anyone who cares to look can see it almost certainly isn’t – it would be a waste of the EU’s time. Read more.

EU negotiations with Johnson a waste of time2020-06-03T14:03:26+01:00

Darroch resignation. Who appoints a new ambassador?

12 July 2019 British foreign secretary and Tory leadership hopeful, Jeremy Hunt, yesterday told Foreign Office staff that ‘the UK government alone will determine appointments based on our national interest alone.’ Read more.

Darroch resignation. Who appoints a new ambassador?2020-06-03T15:28:37+01:00

Trump and Darroch

9 July 2019 All observers know that what the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Kim Darroch, said about Donald Trump and his White House in secret, classified messages to the Foreign Office is true. Read more.

Trump and Darroch2020-06-03T15:29:35+01:00

Diplomatic Notebooks 1, 1958-1960: The view from Ankara

Zeki Kuneralp, Diplomatic Notebooks 1, 1958-1960: The view from Ankara, ed. and introduced by Sinan Kuneralp (The Isis Press: Istanbul, 2018), ISBN 978-975-428-616-8/978-975-428-617-5, pp. 342, incl. name and analytical index. Publisher's page Zeki Kuneralp (1914-1998) was one of Turkey’s most gifted, well-liked and influential diplomats of the second half of the twentieth century. This book, dispassionately [...]

Diplomatic Notebooks 1, 1958-1960: The view from Ankara2019-10-14T20:28:33+01:00
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