PAST EVENTS
May 2010
British Business - the View from the Foreign Office
On 12th May CWN met at the National Liberal Club in Whitehall to hear an informal "view from the Foreign Office" in what was both an informative and amusing evening. Our speaker was British Ambassador Thorda Abbott-Watt, who has been a Head of Mission in Yerevan, Ulan Bator and Dushanbe as well as serving in more familiar places.
While politics is monopolising the news right now, Thorda explained that although there are shifts of emphasis when a new government is elected, the national interest remains largely consistent over time. Current FCO strategic objectives - to resolve conflict, work against terrorism and weapons proliferation, promote a low carbon/high growth global economy, develop effective international organisations and provide efficient and effective commercial, visa and consular services - are likely to remain their key focus.
Although some may have an image of ambassadors engaging in covert spying operations, we were reassured that this was not part of the role (where any "intelligence" is collected the parties involved always know they are speaking to a British representative). Nor is it a requirement to have servants handing out platters of gold wrapped chocolates. Thorda pointed out that, while once a proud parent's ambition might have been to marry their daughter off to an Ambassador, today that same parent could reasonably aspire to see their daughter as the Ambassador.
Although FCO have consistently missed their targets for employing senior women, the desire is there and they are extremely accommodating of women who wish to juggle a diplomatic career with having a family. Resilience is a prerequisite (Thorda herself has been target of a hate campaign following her public defence of the British government's position in one of her posts), as is a reasonable level of physical fitness, though disability is not itself a bar to being a diplomat. Some of the more challenging postings such as Afghanistan and Iraq do require attendance on "Hazardous Environment Training". However Thorda told us she considers this to be the most fun the office has paid her to have.
She has since demonstrated she has the skills needed to cope in such environments (there is a story about Thorda wrapped in an old fur coat, carrying a cable in her teeth and scaling the outside of a hotel with a satellite dish under one arm, while trying to establish communications with London, and another of her imitating a 'tubby cockroach', but for those who missed the event, that's as much as I'm telling you).
There is no doubt that if you want to build up a wealth of amusing after-dinner anecdotes this is the career for you. On a more serious note if you turn to a British embassy while abroad, they will always try to help. Many embassies have dedicated commercial sections to help you win business abroad. Where they don't, they can usually offer advice on where to find help.
In a consular crisis they can help put you in touch with your family, direct you to local medical services and offer you lists of key contacts, such as English-speaking local lawyers. The FCO website (www.fco.gov.uk) is a valuable resource and individual embassy websites are easy to access, either through the FCO site or by typing "British Embassy in [name of country]" into your search engine.
This event was organised by Roz Morris and Joyce Arram and our thanks go to them for an excellent event, with special thanks to Joyce for securing our splendid venue in Whitehall at the National Liberal Club.
Natalie Winter Frost
