Podcasts about foreign and commonwealth office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has traditionally been at the heart of Britain’s foreign policy decision making. As the UK seeks a new role outside the EU as ‘Global Britain’, how is that role changing? What should the FCO’s priorities be in the future? The Institute for Government and UK in a Changing Europe held a discussion on how the FCO can best deploy its expertise. Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, made some opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A. Our panel included: Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government and previously Chief Foreign Commentator, Foreign Editor and US Editor of The Times. Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Columnist at the Financial Times. This event was chaired by Professor Anand Menon, Director of UK in a Changing Europe.

Alex Wilks and Nisha Iswaran, Justice Advisors in the UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit, give a talk for the OTJR Seminar Series. https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/events/transitional-justice-and-stabilisation-risks-or-opportunities

20 years ago the European Union embarked on an ambitious project which clearly ranks among its greatest achievements – the creation of the Single Market. The Single Market has brought down barriers to trade and created a level playing field for European businesses and consumers. To mark the 20th anniversary, a series of events took place across the EU. In the UK, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in cooperation with the European Commission, organised a half-day conference at Lancaster House on 18 October 2012 and published ‘Twenty Years On: The UK and the Future of the Single Market’

Karen Pierce, former UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, talks about the works of art on display in her official residence in New York during the time she was working there. Pierce was filmed in London, in front of Yinka Shonibare’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a work in the Government Art Collection that seems appropriate in the context of the United Nations, given its issues of globalisation and cultural identity. Pierce explains how art can help to lend a sense of permanence to the British presence in New York and plays a vital diplomatic role through emphasising connections between the US and the UK.

An interview with Michael Arthur, British Ambassador to Germany. In this podcast Michael Arthur, UK Ambassador to Germany 2007--2010, is interviewed by Penny Johnson, the Director of the Government Art Collection in Berlin. Filmed in two parts, the first part of the interview takes place in the British Embassy near the Brandenburg Gate on Wilhelmstrasse and concludes in the Ambassador's Residence. The discussion focuses on some of the works of art currently on display in both buildings. The Embassy itself is a very striking, colourful, modern building and was designed in 2000 by Michael Wilford, one of Britain's leading architects.

The UK Government Art Collection was invited by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 2007 to commission art for the British Embassy in Doha, Qatar. Here, the commissioned artist Jonathan Parsons, discusses his project which evolved from his fascination with maps of the region. For more go to: http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk