About this blog
Welcome to my blog - I'm Charles Reed and I advise the Church of England on foreign policy issues.
This blog covers a variety of topics from US foreign policy to European politics and the Middle East - and whatever else happens to be in the news or catch my attention.
This is a conversational blog so please join in as your comments are an essential part of making the whole thing work.
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Monthly Archives: March 2011
Brief a Bishop: Making Sense of Libya and The Arab Spring
This week I posted a series of blogs in advance of a briefing I’m writing for bishops taking part in tomorrow’s House of Lords debate. The final briefing encompasses recent developments in Libya, the process of political change in Egypt … Continue reading
Posted in Libya, Middle East
Tagged Houses of Parliament, Libya, Middle East, Middle East Peace Process
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Location, Location, Location
Location, location, location is the mantra when it comes to buying property, but does it also hold when it comes to the hosting of major diplomatic events? If it does, what does the hosting of yesterday’s London Conference on Libya at … Continue reading
Posted in Libya
Tagged Britain's Role in the World, Lancaster House, Libya, London Conference
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Brief a Bishop: The Middle East Peace Process
Next Friday, 1 April, Peers will spend the whole day debating recent events in Libya and the wider Middle East. It is my job to ensure that those bishops taking part in this debate are properly briefed. Whether they use … Continue reading
Brief a Bishop: Egypt
Next Friday, 1 April, Peers will spend the whole day debating recent events in Libya and the wider Middle East. It is my job to ensure that those bishops taking part in this debate are properly briefed. Whether they use that briefing … Continue reading
Brief A Bishop – Libya and Operation Odyssey
Next Friday, 1 April, Peers will spend the whole day debating recent events in Libya and the wider Middle East. It is my job to ensure that those bishops taking part in this debate are properly briefed. Whether they use that briefing is … Continue reading
Posted in British Foreign Policy, Libya
Tagged Houses of Parliament, Lords Spiritual, Operation Odyssey
4 Comments
Photo Essay: Remembering Oscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez, the fourth Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salavador was assassinated 21 years ago on 24 March 1980. He was shot while celebrating Mass at a small chapel located in a hospital called “La Divina Providencia”. … Continue reading
A Lord Spiritual take on the European Union Bill
Yesterday in a long and lengthy Parliamentary debate that was lacking neither passion nor vigour, Peers considered the European Union Bill. The debate makes interesting reading and reveals much about Britain’s schizophrenic relationship with Europe. It was good to see … Continue reading
Operation Odyssey: Parliament and the Unanswered Questions
After reading through nearly seven hours of Parliamentary debate yesterday on Operation Odyssey, I now realise that I’m not the only one at a loss to know how this is all going to end and how long it might all … Continue reading
The European Union Bill and the Limits to Parliamentary Sovereignty
With Operation Odyssey dominating the news it is easy to overlook other issues that need our critical attention. I know that Europe is not everyone’s cup of tea, but the European Union Bill has its second reading in the House … Continue reading
Operation Odyssey – The Last Hurrah for Liberal Interventionism?
Does the interpretation of and subsequent implementation of UNSCR 1973 make further humanitarian interventions less or more likely? I know this is a hypothetical question, and I recognise we are only a few short days in to Operation Odyssey, but … Continue reading
