scholarly journals Enduring Victoria: Iconoclasm and Restoration at the British Embassy in Tehran

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Maria Popoviciu ◽  
Andrew Parratt
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
British Art ◽  
Queen Victoria ◽  
National Conversation ◽  
Art Collection ◽  
The Government ◽  
British Embassy ◽  
The Uk

The Government Art Collection (GAC) shares British art, culture and creativity through displays in UK Government buildings worldwide. It is the most widely distributed collection of British art, displayed in 129 countries where it is seen by thousands of visitors each year, and makes an important contribution to UK cultural diplomacy. New acquisitions continually develop the diversity of representation within the collection to better reflect contemporary British society.The Collection holds a number of portraits of Queen Victoria that are displayed in UK diplomatic buildings in Moscow, Paris, Tehran, Tokyo, Tunis, Washington and New Delhi, amongst others.  Over two centuries, these portraits have silently witnessed Britain’s changing position in the world while recalling her former influence. The first part of this article will focus on George Hayter’s portrait of Queen Victoria, painted 1862-63, and displayed in the British Ambassador's residence in Tehran, Iran. This is one of many autograph copies of the artist’s original 1838-40 coronation portrait, currently on display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It features an unusual Persian inscription and was commissioned specifically for the new embassy building in Tehran, completed in 1875, shortly before Queen Victoria was entitled Empress of India, and has been displayed there ever since.The second part of the article will reflect on the display of art recently installed in the British Ambassador's Residence in Tehran, and the curatorial challenges this presented in a country with a long and troubled relationship with Britain. This new display was itself a consequence of an iconoclastic attack on Victoria’s image in 2011 when the embassy was stormed by Iranian protesters - the latest event in a turbulent history.At a time when the UK is having a profound national conversation about how it engages internationally, can Victoria’s image help to build cultural relations in diplomatic spaces or is it only a relic of an imperial past?

British Council as an Instrument of Public Diplomacy of Great Britain

2017 ◽  
pp. 305-312
Author(s):  
Mykola Trofymenko
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
British Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government

Public diplomacy of Great Britain is one of the most developed in the EU and in the world. The United Kingdom has developed an extremely efficient public diplomacy mechanism which includes BBC World Service (which due to its popularity boosts the reputation and the image of Great Britain), Chevening Scholarships (provides outstanding foreign students with opportunity to study in Great Britain and thus establishes long-lasting relations with public opinion leaders and foreign countries elite) and the British Council, which deals with international diplomatic ties in the field of culture. The British Council is a unique organization. Being technically independent, it actively and efficiently works on consolidating Great Britain’s interests in the world and contributes to the development of public diplomacy in Great Britain.   The author studies the efforts of the British Council as a unique public diplomacy tool of the United Kingdom. Special attention is paid to the role of British Council, which is independent of the governing board and at the same time finds itself under the influence of the latter due to the peculiarities of the appointment of Board’s officials, financing etc. The author concludes that the British Council is a unique organization established in 1934, which is a non-departmental state body, charitable organization and public corporation, technically independent of the government. The British Council, thanks to its commercial activities covers the lack of public funding caused by the policy of economy conducted by the government. It has good practices in this field worth paying attention by other countries. It is also worth mentioning that the increment in profit was getting higher last year, however the issue of increasing the influence of the government on the activities of British Council is still disputable. Although the Foreign Minister officially reports to the parliament on the activities of the British Council, approves the appointment of the leaders of organizations, the British Council preserves its independence of the government, which makes it more popular abroad, and makes positive influence on the world image of Great Britain. The efficiency of the British Council efforts on fulfillment of targets of the United Kingdom public diplomacy is unquestionable, no matter how it calls its activities: whether it is a cultural relations establishment or a cultural diplomacy implementation. Keywords: The British Council, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, cultural relations, Foreign Office, Her Majesty’s Government, official assistance for development

The Case of Iranian Cultural Diplomacy in Syria

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia von Maltzahn
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Syrian Population ◽  
Conventional Methods ◽  
The Government ◽  
Islamic Values

AbstractThe study of intra-regional use of soft power in the Middle East has received little attention to date. This article focuses on the case of revolutionary Iran's cultural diplomacy in Syria, to throw light on the Iranian government's efforts to promote its Islamic values and build relationships between the two peoples. After introducing the Islamic Republic's motivations in establishing cultural relations abroad, the article examines the goals and content of Iran's cultural diplomacy work in Syria, against the background of bilateral relations. It will become clear that Islamic Iran understands the importance of soft power in advancing its ideas and establishing lasting links. The government utilizes conventional methods of cultural diplomacy and tries to reach out to the Syrian population at large. Whilst the Syrian regime cooperates with its ally, the initiative comes from the Iranian side. The study is based on field work in Syria in 2008, drawing on interviews and publications from the Iranian Cultural Chancellery in Damascus.

Curb Cuts: Crip Displacements and El Edificio de Enfrente

Somatechnics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-215
Author(s):  
Robert McRuer
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Spatial Politics ◽  
Cultural System ◽  
Good Will ◽  
British Embassy ◽  
The Uk

Theorists of neoliberalism have placed dispossession and displacement at the centre of their analyses of the workings of contemporary global capitalism. Disability, however, has not figured centrally into these analyses. This essay attends to what might be comprehended as the crip echoes generated by dispossession, displacement, and a global austerity politics. Centring on British-Mexican relations during a moment of austerity in the UK and gentrification in Mexico City, the essay identifies both the voices of disability that are recognized by and made useful for neoliberalism as well as those shut down or displaced by this dominant economic and cultural system. The spatial politics of austerity in the UK have generated a range of punishing, anti-disabled policies such as the so-called ‘Bedroom Tax.’ The essay critiques such policies (and spatial politics) by particularly focusing on two events from 2013: a British embassy good will event exporting British access to Mexico City and an installation of photographs by Livia Radwanski. Radwanski's photos of the redevelopment of a Mexico City neighbourhood (and the displacement of poor people living in the neighbourhood) are examined in order to attend to the ways in which disability might productively haunt an age of austerity, dispossession, and displacement.

A ‘Sound Investment’? British Cultural Diplomacy and Overseas Students: The British Council's Students Committee, 1935–1939

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-283
Author(s):  
Alice Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Overseas Students ◽  
British Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Foreign Office ◽  
Run Up ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World

This article explores the UK government's first foray into cultural diplomacy by focusing on the activities of the British Council's Students Committee in the run-up to the Second World War. Students were placed at the heart of British cultural diplomacy, which drew on foreign models as well as the experience of intra-empire exchanges. While employing cultural internationalist discourse, the drive to attract more overseas students to the United Kingdom was intended to bring economic and political advantages to the host country. The British Council pursued its policy in cooperation with non-state actors but ultimately was guided by the Foreign Office, which led it to target key strategic regions, principally in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

scholarly journals Public governance, agility and pandemics: a case study of the UK response to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232098340
Author(s):  
Paul Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Role ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Local Initiative ◽  
Government Response ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
The Uk

The UK government’s leaders initially believed that it was among the best-prepared governments for a pandemic. By June 2020, the outcome of the collision between the government’s initial confidence, on the one hand, and the aggressiveness and virulence of COVID-19, on the other, was evident. The UK had one of the worst COVID-19 mortality rates in the world. This article explores the UK government’s response to COVID-19 from a public administration and governance perspective. Using factual information and statistical data, it considers the government’s preparedness and strategic decisions, the delivery of the government response, and public confidence in the government. Points for practitioners Possible lessons for testing through application include: Use the precautionary principle to set planning assumptions in government strategies to create the possibility of government agility during a pandemic. Use central government’s leadership role to facilitate and enable local initiative and operational responses, as well as to take advantage of local resources and assets. Choose smart government responses that address tensions between the goal of saving lives and other government goals, and beware choices that are unsatisfactory compromises.

scholarly journals Rhetorical uses of precise numbers and semi-magical round numbers in political discourse about COVID-19: Examples from the government of the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 095792652110131
Author(s):  
Michael Billig
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
British Government ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Round Numbers ◽  
Magical Power ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The 19Th Century

This paper examines how the British government has used statistics about COVID-19 for political ends. A distinction is made between precise and round numbers. Historically, using round numbers to estimate the spread of disease gave way in the 19th century to the sort precise, but not necessarily accurate, statistics that are now being used to record COVID-19. However, round numbers have continued to exert rhetorical, ‘semi-magical’ power by simultaneously conveying both quantity and quality. This is demonstrated in examples from the British government’s claims about COVID-19. The paper illustrates how senior members of the UK government use ‘good’ round numbers to frame their COVID-19 goals and to announce apparent achievements. These round numbers can provide political incentives to manipulate the production of precise number; again examples from the UK government are given.

The RUMA Alliance targets: an overview

Livestock ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-179
Author(s):  
Chris Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Codes Of Practice ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Ongoing Support ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Roll Out

The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) was established to promote the highest standards of food safety, animal health and animal welfare in the British livestock industry. It has a current focus to deliver on the Government objective of identifying sector-specific targets for the reduction, refinement or replacement of antibiotics in animal agriculture. The creation and roll out of sector specific targets in 2017 through the RUMA Targets Task Force, has helped focus activity across the UK livestock sectors to achieve a 50% reduction in antibiotic use since 2014. This has been realised principally through voluntary multi-sector collaboration, cross sector initiatives, codes of practice, industry body support and farm assurance schemes. This article provides an overview of RUMA's work to date providing insight into the methods used to create the targets, why they are so important, the impact they are having and how ongoing support and robust data are vital components in achieving the latest set of targets.

Home Rule for India

1919 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-305
Author(s):  
Graham H. Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Civil Service ◽  
Home Rule ◽  
Queen Victoria ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Office ◽  
National Congress ◽  
The Government ◽  
Indian National Congress

The epoch-marking proclamation issued by Queen Victoria in 1858 announced to the people of India that they were to be admitted freely and impartially to political office. The autocratic bureaucracy of foreigners, culminating in the régime of Lord Curzon, when only about 4 per cent of the members of the Indian civil service were natives, was hardly a fulfillment of the spirit of this proclamation. Nor did the peoples of India consider it such. The spirit of unrest finally took shape in the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, to give expression to the ideas of the educated classes; and this body soon came to be regarded as the unofficial Indian parliament. Each year it brought forward a list of ills which the government of India as then organized could not hope to remedy.

scholarly journals The future of social care funding: who pays?

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kenny ◽  
J. Barnfield ◽  
L. Daly ◽  
A. Dunn ◽  
D. Passey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phase 1 ◽  
List Type ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
Financial Products ◽  
Funding System ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Care Costs

AbstractWith the UK population ageing, deciding upon a satisfactory and sustainable system for the funding of people’s long-term care (LTC) needs has long been a topic of political debate. Phase 1 of the Care Act 2014 (“the Act”) brought in some of the reforms recommended by the Dilnot Commission in 2011. However, the Government announced during 2015 that Phase 2 of “the Act” such as the introduction of a £72,000 cap on Local Authority care costs and a change in the means testing thresholds1 would be deferred until 2020. In addition to this delay, the “freedom and choice” agenda for pensions has come into force. It is therefore timely that the potential market responses to help people pay for their care within the new pensions environment should be considered. In this paper, we analyse whether the proposed reforms meet the policy intention of protecting people from catastrophic care costs, whilst facilitating individual understanding of their potential care funding requirements. In particular, we review a number of financial products and ascertain the extent to which such products might help individuals to fund the LTC costs for which they would be responsible for meeting. We also produce case studies to demonstrate the complexities of the care funding system. Finally, we review the potential impact on incentives for individuals to save for care costs under the proposed new means testing thresholds and compare these with the current thresholds. We conclude that:∙Although it is still too early to understand exactly how individuals will respond to the pensions freedom and choice agenda, there are a number of financial products that might complement the new flexibilities and help people make provision for care costs.∙The new care funding system is complex making it difficult for people to understand their potential care costs.∙The current means testing system causes a disincentive to save. The new means testing thresholds provide a greater level of reward for savers than the existing thresholds and therefore may increase the level of saving for care; however, the new thresholds could still act as a barrier since disincentives still exist.

scholarly journals Changing the rules of the game: some necessary legal reforms to United Kingdom intelligence

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 943-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAN LEIGH
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
The Us ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Rules Of The Game

AbstractThis article argues that there is a need to modernise the law governing accountability of the UK security and intelligence agencies following changes in their work in the last decade. Since 9/11 the agencies have come increasingly into the spotlight, especially because of the adoption of controversial counter-terrorism policies by the government (in particular forms of executive detention) and by its international partners, notably the US. The article discusses the options for reform in three specific areas: the use in legal proceedings of evidence obtained by interception of communications; with regard to the increased importance and scle of collaboration with overseas agencies; and to safeguard the political independence of the agencies in the light of their substantially higher public profile. In each it is argued that protection of human rights and the need for public accountability requires a new balance to be struck with the imperatives of national security.

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