Diplomacy at Large

Sir Laurie Bristow, President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge, former British Ambassador to Russia and Afghanistan, discusses what diplomacy demands when the stakes are human lives, and why it is mostly about people.

In this episode of Diplomacy at Large, he tells me about the terror warning that reached him while he was helping organise the evacuation from Kabul in 2021, and the decision he had to take with no time to consult London.

He describes how Afghanistan unravelled, from the abandonment of Bagram Air Base to the chaos at the airport, and an evacuation that got more than 15,000 people out in about 12 days.

Sir Laurie also recalls presenting his credentials to Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, being handed a list of British diplomats expelled from Moscow, and how he led his embassy through the aftermath ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

He looks back on his first posting in post-Ceaușescu Romania, where a miners' leader poured him a tumbler of whisky, and explains why Britain keeps diplomatic relations with adversaries such as Russia.

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HE Nikesh Mehta OBE, British High Commissioner to Singapore, discusses what it takes to represent the UK abroad when you don't fit the traditional image of a diplomat.

In this episode of Diplomacy at Large, he tells me about returning as a British diplomat to Uganda, the country his mother was expelled from under Idi Amin, and taking his grandmother back to the village where she grew up.

Nik reflects on arriving in Basra the day after Saddam Hussein's capture, supporting families after the MH370 and MH17 disasters in Malaysia, hosting a royal visit and serving as one of the few publicly declared officers at GCHQ.

He explains how his embassy in Seoul partnered with Blackpink to promote climate action ahead of COP26, and why diplomats have more agency to take creative risks than they might believe.

00:00 Introduction and Family History

07:40 First Posting in Post-Conflict Iraq

12:33 Managing Crisis in Malaysia

21:16 Organising a Royal Visit

27:04 Working with GCHQ

29:41 Co-piloting in South Korea and becoming Head of Mission in Singapore

47:00 Reflections on Diplomacy and Agency

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With Her Excellency Jane Marriott CMG OBE, British High Commissioner to Pakistan.

She has led under pressure with the military in Iraq, at US State Department with Richard Holbrooke, in Iran where a mob came over the embassy wall, as British Ambassador to Yemen and British High Commissioner to Kenya.

Listen for leadership lessons learned in crisis:

0:00 Introduction

1:17 How Jane got into diplomacy

08:45 Working with the military in Iraq

12:23 Navigating a hostile government, in Iran

30:20 Working at State Department in Washington DC

38:42 How to prevent election fraud, in Kenya

43:23 Leading a large mission and Jane’s top lesson

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Every day at noon, the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric steps up to the podium, faces the world’s media and speaks for the United Nations.

One wrong word can undermine a field mission, unbalance a negotiation or damage the UN’s reputation.He tells us what it takes to walk that high wire, why it’s the best job in the building, how it's the perfect role for a procrastinator, and the one skill he recommends to everyone.

00:00 Introduction02:05 How Stéphane got the job05:40 Stage fright and procrastination10:43 Bosses, technology and cultures23:40 Human suffering: how to save lives27:57 The UN under attack: what to do35:21 Stéphane’s number 1 lesson.

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Diplomacy is not just for diplomats. For more diplomacy subscribe at ambatlarge.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://ambatlarge.substack.com/subscribe