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.
My Books
Category Archives: Ecumenism
Being Foreign Secretary for the day – preventing another Houla?
Our response to the grotesque massacre in Houla, Syria, suggests a despairing awareness that short of military intervention, which no one wants, there is little we can do to resolve the emerging sectarian civil war. My own view is that while an … Continue reading
Posted in British Foreign Policy, Ecumenism, Middle East
Tagged Houla, Lebanon, President Assad, Responsibility to Protect, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, sanctions, Syria
2 Comments
Rethinking our power and influence in a network centred world
William Hague is due to arrive in Moscow today to discuss the civilian massacres in Syria with the country’s closest Security Council ally. At the same time the UN Security Council has convened an emergency session to discuss what the … Continue reading
Posted in British Foreign Policy, Ecumenism
Tagged G-Zero World, Russian Orthodox Church, Syria, United Nations, William Hague
1 Comment
Europe and its future(s)
Ecumenical visits to Helsinki, Finland and then to Novi Saad, Serbia, followed by the debate on the Queen’s Speech has meant there has been little time to blog. There has certainly been no shortage of issues to write about –Chicago … Continue reading
Posted in Ecumenism, Europe
Tagged Afghanistan, Bishop of Guildford, Bishop of Lichfield, Bishop of Wakefield, CEC, EU, European Ecumenism, Greece, International Development, O.7%, Queen's Speech
1 Comment
CEC 2030
Tuesday’s industrial action by French train drivers made my journey to Strasbourg a more complicated, but no less pleasant affair. There really is no other way to travel in Europe. The protracted eight hour journey from London Kings Cross provided … Continue reading
Prague Reflections on The Future of European Ecumenism
For the last two days I’ve been in Prague helping to deliver an interim report to the Conference of European Churches’ Central Committee on the work of the Revision Working Group (RWG). Try and stay awake now. For those who … Continue reading
Don’t Blame it all on the Germans
It has been a pretty hectic few months at work with a disorienting amount of European travel required to attend a series of political and ecumenical meetings in Brussels and Geneva. Blogging, I’m afraid, has taken something of a back … Continue reading
