UK -Politics & World Current Affairs

London October 9, 2007 

Diplomats and Foreign observers attending the ruling  Labour Party conference  this year ( October 2007) questioned whether there has been a significant shift in British foreign policy, especially in the relationship with America and Prime Minister Gordonm Brown committment to America’s war on terror. But despite what appears to be change of policy, inter-departmental memoranda instructing all officials to refrain from the use of the term’ war on terror’, there is very little change in the main trends of British foreign policy. There might be some shift in emphasis, but the substance of foreign policy especially in Middle East, relation with Europe and committment to EU, the committment in Afghanistan, have not change.

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London- 16 Novmber

In His annual speech at the Lord Mayor’s dinner at the Gild Hall in the City of London, where Prime Ministers traditionally outline their foreign policy strategy, Tony Blair gave a review of his and provided some options for President George Bush to sort out the mess in Iraq.

By Adel Darwish

 British Prime Minister Tony Blair was quick to call for some practical steps to discover the sliver lining in the clouds of the latest electoral storm to hit President George W. Bush’s ship which was sailing with a broken compass using ancient charts on which there were no marks to identify some new currents and streams of some dangerous perils. Blair’s diplomacy is subtle and wise. He does not embarrass his allies nor does he antagonise his adversaries. He used the traditional Prime Minister’s speech during the Lord Mayor’s dinner at the Guildhall in the city of London – an annual event marking the election of the new Lord Mayor  John Stuttard- to  explain British foreign policy. The Prime Minister outlined the priorities of his policy commencing with solutions to issues in the Middle East and Iraq, and the war against terrorism.

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London- 26 July 2006 

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s handling of last month Middle East crisis alarmed British elder diplomats as they sensed the ghosts of Suez  hovering above Downing Street. It also serve asa reminders that the Americans will always put their interest first as they did in 1956 when they gave Britain the cold shoulder instead of standing `shoulder to shoulder’ and stabbed the ‘historic friend’ in the back to further their interests in the Middle East at Britain’s expense.
By Adel Darwish.

Fifty years ago( July 26, 1956)  Anthony Eden’s dinner party for young King Faisal II of Iraq and his Prime Minister the seasoned Nuri Pasha al-Said, was interrupted by news of Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser had Nationalised Suez Canal, just nine years before its concession agreement granted by the Egyptian government was to run out. Grabbing the world’s most vital water-way, was illegal under both Egyptian and international laws. The shareholders weren’t just  big investors, but a considerable number were Egyptians and others, including WW2 widows, investing their life savings, or disability and war compensation.

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This column was first published  on Wednesday, 6, April, 2005

London - Adel Darwish
President George Bush vowed to correct flaws in intelligence gathering exposed by a bipartisan presidential commission concluding that US intelligence was “dead wrong’’ on Iraq and that flaws were still all too common among America’s intelligence community. The report outlined 74 recommendations for improving information sharing among the agencies and fostering dissent.

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