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.
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Tag Archives: Andrew Mitchell
Reflecting on the economics of the Arab Spring
Yesterday, I escaped the usual Monday morning rigours to attend a one day conference at Chatham House on the economics of the Arab Spring. Core to the conference was the thesis that despite the region’s political transformations addressing political grievances … Continue reading
Photo Essay: The Humanitarian Emergency at the Border
This photo provided by Foreign Policy captures a scene at the Ras Jdir border crossing between Tunisia and Libya earlier this week. With Tunisia ill-equipped to accommodate the large numbers of refugees fleeing the violence in Libya, migrant workers and their families have … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Photo Essay
Tagged Andrew Mitchell, DfID, Humanitarian Aid, Libya, Refugees, Tunisia
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Assessing UK Aid: Changing Lives, Delivering Results
What is one to make of the results of Changing Lives, the Department for International Development’s (DfIDs) review exercise published yesterday? In the rush to delve into the report’s critical details, it is all too easy to overlook that the … Continue reading
General Synod: Doing Business with DfID and Andrew Mitchell
What can one say about Andrew Mitchell’s address to General Synod? Let’s take the question of style first. This was a very business like performance. There was none of the rabble rousing rhetoric used by Secretary of State’s of old. … Continue reading
Andrew Mitchell and the Road to Damascus
Andrew Mitchell, the Secretary of State for International Development, is due to address the General Synod, the Church’s Parliament, later this afternoon on the topic of Internationalising the Big Society. This could prove interesting given that Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, the … Continue reading
The General Synod and DfID – East Kilbride Reflections
Yesterday’s meeting with the DfID’s Civil Society Department in East Kilbride was a positive if tiring affair. The professionalism of staff was self-evident as was their willingness to engage in a frank conversation about the potential for collaboration around the faith … Continue reading
General Synod and the Night Train to DfID
A colleague and I are catching the sleeper – separate berths I should stress – to Glasgow tonight for a meeting tomorrow with Department for International Development officials ahead of Andrew Mitchell’s speech to the General Synod next month. This is a long way to … Continue reading
