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.
Demetri Kofinas interviewed me for his “Hidden Forces” podcast. You can hear our discussion here. Demetri has added a useful reading list too, covering some of the subjects we discussed. Thank you for a great discussion Demetri! (Note, the web-page uses a very old photo of me. I am unfortunately rather older than this pic suggests.)
1A, a show on WAMU on National Public Radio, interviewed me about the film. It was a full discussion of the ideas – anarchism, Rojava, the flaws in contemporary democracy. You can hear it here.
I thought I would post the chapter from The Leaderless Revolution called “Niine Principles for Action”. I welcome comments on anything here on my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/carnewross/.
Here is a short list of principles that may guide action, along with a few practical examples. The principles are by no means exclusive, nor comprehensive: mere pointers, not instructions.
I always really enjoy talking with students. A few weeks ago, I gave a talk at Cornell and was interviewed by Marc Masson, a French post-grad there. This was the result. The interview covers the UN (and the new SG), some of the problems with diplomacy and some advice for those interested in careers in international relations.
The Nation asked me to comment on Larry Summers’s notion of “responsible nationalism” as a response to the more toxic kind of Trump and the Brexiters. You can view the article on The Nation site here.
I returned to the UK for the publication of the Chilcot Report. I did a number of interviews, which are posted in the News/Media section of this site. I was asked by the New York Times to write about the report. You can see it online here. And here’s the text:
With the publication of the Iraq Inquiry “Chilcot” Report imminent, I am re-posting a blog I wrote at the ten-year anniversary of the war:
With the ten year anniversary of the war, I wanted to tell the story of the evidence I gave to the first official inquiry into the war, an event that led to my resignation from the British foreign servce.