This site hosts my writing and media appearances including news about the documentary movie, Accidental Anarchist. I am a former British diplomat who resigned over the Iraq war. I founded the world's first non-profit diplomatic advisory group, Independent Diplomat.
Here are some suggestions for a manifesto for the Occupy Wall Street protests, which are currently taking place. The manifesto attempts to summarize common concerns about current banking practices and articulate a new agenda for a better system. The banks are busy lobbying lawmakers and the Administration every day. Continue reading Demand Better Banking – A suggested manifesto for #OccupyWallStreet
After talking with a lot of people at the UN, and in the leader- and diplomat-packed corridors and lobbies of various mid-town hotels in a rainy New York City, the likely early outcomes of the Palestinian initiative are becoming a bit clearer. Any observations now however must be stated with a very clear proviso that things are moving fast, and the diplomacy is hectic. Things may change very suddenly.
Continue reading Palestine/UN – quick update: showdown at the Security Council less likely
There’s a lot of confusion about the PLO’s likely attempt this week to gain full membership of the UN. In particular, many commentators (and the PLO itself) often refer to the initiative as an attempt to gain “recognition” by the UN, which it is not. The UN does not recognise states; only other states can recognise states (however, UN membership would undoubtedly boost Palestine’s claim to be a state).
Continue reading A simple guide to Palestine’s application for membership of the United Nations
My cousin told me about this remarkable story. It illustrates perfectly the arguments of “The Leaderless Revolution”: a tragic and difficult problem which an appeal to conventional insitutions could not solve; instead this brave and resourceful couple took matters, peacefully, into their own hands and addressed the problem, with great compassion, directly…
By Rafael Estefania
BBC News, Hansala, Morocco
Continue reading An extraordinary example of what “The Leaderless Revolution” is all about
I was very privileged to be invited to give a lecture about my newly-published book at the London School of Economics. It was a great audience, and a very interesting discussion. Continue reading “The Leaderless Revolution” – Video and Podcast of my talk at the London School of Economics
In the US and Europe, disillusion with politics is feeding the far right. We need a radical response that returns power to people
The recent debacle in Washington, where wrangling over the debt limit has triggered a downgrading of American debt, has underlined the deep incompetence of the US political system. Thanks to needless brinkmanship, particularly by the Republicans, confidence in US debt has been undermined, thereby likely increasing the cost of borrowing – a price that will eventually be paid by all Americans.
One of the arguments of my forthcoming book is that one sign of the failure of government to agree necessary legislation is the seemingly arcane but vital issue of capital requirements for banks. I discuss this issue in this recent column for The Guardian. Such requirements arguably would have prevented the recent financial crisis. Continue reading The Leaderless Revolution: The ongoing debate about bank regulation
Facing starvation and instability, Somalia needs the international community to stop propping up a failed status quo and rethink
How far can we trust the corporations that profit by the personal data millions of us disclose online via social networks
Continue reading Your information, Their Power – my latest Guardian online column, 7 July 2011
The very idea of European union, always a top-down project without popular assent, faces serious questions of legitimacy