Diplo Blog
Oliver LONG – a Swiss intermediary in 1961-1962
11 June 2012
Fifty years ago Algeria achieved its independence. Switzerland, and in particular Olivier LONG[1], a trade diplomat, deserves credit for acting as go-between quietly and effectively, between Algeria’s Provisional Go...
126 – “Free trade and sailors’ rights” – a diplomatic “embarrassment” in 1812?
10 June 2012
The first US war of choice was the US-UK war of 1812-1814[1]. It ended with the Treaty of Ghent, signed on 24 December 1814. It ended not as the result of military victory or principled resolution of the issue: the de...
“Free trade and sailors’ rights” – a diplomatic “embarrassment” in 1812?
10 June 2012
The first US war of choice was the US-UK war of 1812-1814[1]. It ended with the Treaty of Ghent, signed on 24 December 1814. It ended not as the result of military victory or principled resolution of the issue: the de...
125 – On the protean character of diplomacy
10 June 2012
“Proteus (Πρωτεύς) is an early sea-god, the god of "elusive sea change," which suggests the constantly changing nature of the sea or the liquid quality of water in general. (…) He can foretell the future, b...
124 – Trust vs. rules
09 June 2012
An “outage” I like Malcolm GLADWELL. His book: “The tipping point”[1] introduced me to many aspects of social psychology[2] and created links to other topics like chaos theory and evolution. Never mind that...
On the Protean character of diplomacy
09 June 2012
(probably a light-hearted or light-minded fairy tale) “Proteus (Πρωτεύς) is an early sea-god, the god of "elusive sea change," which suggests the constantly changing nature of the sea or the liquid quality o...
123 – An icon for « Occupy Wall Street »
09 June 2012
You all know Wall’s Street’s icon – the Charging Bull: John R. Hutchinson is an anatomist who works at the Royal Veterinary College in London but is not affiliated with it. He does extraordinary work in...
122 – Does more competition raise real incomes?
09 June 2012
Government these days are keen to create “policies which are designed to raise real incomes by obtaining more output from the resources available (both human and physical)”[1]. The logic is rather simple: “ob...
