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SubscriptionsAuthor: Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Israel’s Actions in Gaza Will Come Back to Haunt It’
Israel’s concept of itself as a peaceful and democratic nation risks being irrevocably damaged by such excessive violence, writes former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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The Republican Presidential Debate – Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
Alexandra Hall Hall provides her insights on a frightening two hours of Haley, Christie, de Santis, Scott and Ramaswamy
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Don’t Let the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Become Yet Another Front in the West’s Internal Culture Wars
What we are witnessing in the UK and the US is a weaponizing of the situation in Israel and Gaza to justify pre-existing right-wing or left-wing goals
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Israel and Hamas: ‘Finger-Pointing Will Get Us Nowhere’
The ripple effects of this latest upsurge in violence will go far beyond Israeli and Palestinian territory, writes former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘The UN Refugee Convention Should Be Reformed – But Not in the Way Suella Braverman Thinks’
The UK could show global leadership by pushing for the international community to broaden its definition of refugees, writes former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Sunak’s Failure to Attend the UN General Assembly is a Disrespectful Missed Opportunity’
Britain cannot assume other countries will automatically bend the knee to it based on the country’s past historic greatness, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘If Our Government Turns on its Own People, We Will Need the ECHR to Protect Us’
The European Court of Human Rights is there to safeguard us against our own worst impulses – calls to leave its jurisdiction are deeply troubling, writes Alexandra Hall Hall
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The UK and US’ Turbulent Times: A Race to the Bottom
Former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall, who now lives in the US, explores which country has been on the bigger self-destruct mission
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‘The World Burns as Our Dangerous Age of Unreason Fuels the Flames’
The Conservative Party may well be on the wrong side of public opinion – as well as history – when it comes to its lack of commitment to tackling the climate emergency
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‘Labour Must Be Bold on Political Reform Beyond It’s Own Self-Interest if we are to have a Properly Functioning Democracy’
A big problem facing UK politics is that both main political parties see the status quo as in their narrow self-interest, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘When Will We Hear these Brexit Truths From an Opposition Leader?’
The UK’s real problem never had anything to do with the EU – but was about the lack of capable and honest political leadership, according to the former diplomat who resigned from the Foreign Office over Brexit
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The End of America’s Title 42: ‘Immigration Needs to be Treated as a Humanitarian Crisis Rather than a Political Football’
Under Title 42, many migrants to the US were blocked from requesting asylum at all – what lies ahead with the policy expiring?
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The Coronation: ‘Is It Lese Majeste to Want Less Majesty?’
King Charles’ Coronation is a missed opportunity to move monarchy into the modern era, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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Dominic Raab’s Resignation: ‘A Man So Unwilling to Learn is Undeserving of Our Sympathy’
The relationship between ministers and civil servants is, by definition, an unequal one – it takes courage to stand up to a minister or offer an opinion contrary to their own, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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Iraq and Brexit: A Common Thread of Hubris
Both events were driven more by ideological conviction – than rational analysis – and against the advice of most experts, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Threatening to Leave the ECHR would be the Perfect Terrain for Next Conservative Election Campaign’
The Government may do just enough to rile up the Conservative Party’s voter base by engineering yet another pointless row with European bodies, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘With the Northern Ireland Protocol Deal, Sunak has Recognised Peace is Hard and Conflict is Deadly’
Do Boris Johnson, David Frost and the ERG want Northern Ireland to be stuck in a similar spiral of distrust and possible resumption of violence as the Israelis and Palestinians, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Does Boris Johnson Deserve a Pass Because of Ukraine?’
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall assesses the former Prime Minister’s recent trip to the US in support of Ukraine and what it says about his political motives
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Lying Again? The Many Questions for Boris Johnson Over his Support for Ukraine
With the former Prime Minister again dominating the news with claims of alleged nuclear threats from Vladimir Putin, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall puts his record on Ukraine under the spotlight
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‘War in Ukraine: Lessons from Georgia’
The West can better help Ukraine by learning from its mistakes with Georgia, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Amateur Hour in British Politics’
As more and more ministers are handed top jobs for their loyalty rather than their competence, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall considers what we can do about this democratic deficit
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Make or Break: Will Rishi Sunak be Able to Tackle the Conservatives’ Many Political Divides?
Brexit, immigration, ‘Global Britain’, energy and austerity – former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall sets out the challenges ahead for Britain’s latest Prime Minister
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‘Moving UK Embassy in Israel would be a British Betrayal’
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall – who headed the Foreign Office’s Middle East Peace Process Section for two years in the late 1990s – assesses reports that the UK’s embassy in Israel could move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
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‘Growing Nowhere’
Liz Truss’ agenda is meaningless without a wider framework for the non-economic values that will enable Britain to flourish, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Great British Democracy’: Who Voted for This?
The UK’s political system currently resembles an unelected autocracy rather than a truly representative democracy, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘The Queen’s Funeral Presents Diplomatic Challenges like None Other’
Former diplomat and ambassador Alexandra Hall Hall reflects on whether the occasion of the monarch’s passing could present the opportunity for Britain to ease some international tensions
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The End of Boris Johnson: ‘Legacy – What Legacy?’
As the UK stands on the edge of a cliff, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall assesses what the boy who wanted to be ‘world king’ achieved when he fulfilled his relentless ambition
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Where is Britain’s Liz Cheney?
Alexandra Hall Hall explores the worrying trajectories of the US Republicans and the UK’s Conservative Party
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Turning the Chapter on the Johnson Years: My Wish List for our Next Prime Minister
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall explores how the UK could start rebuilding public trust in its institutions and our democracy following a turbulent few years
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Undiplomatic Dispatches: An Exclusive New Column by Alexandra Hall Hall for Byline Times
Byline Times is thrilled to announce a new column by former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall only in its monthly print edition. Here she explains what readers can expect
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Johnson’s Visit to the Lebedevs: A Dire State Not A ‘Deep State’
There is no such thing as ‘private business’ when you’re Foreign Secretary, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Homes for Ukraine’ and the Two Faces of the British Government
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall follows up on the story of British host Jane and Ukrainian refugee Nadia and the fresh hurdles they have faced around the Government’s asylum scheme
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Civil Disservice: The Art and Craft of Lying for Britain
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall charts how she was employed to bend the truth – and the consequences of this for our current politics
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What Man Has Made of Man: Confessions of an Optimist
Alexandra Hall Hall considers the mistakes she has made in believing that the arc of history was travelling in a more progressive direction
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What America’s Security and Foreign Experts Really Think About Boris Johnson’s Brexit Britain
Participating in an event with American foreign and security experts and politicians recently, former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall was taken aback by their views on the state of the UK
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Risking Our Democracy
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall argues that the time has come for serious discussions about reforming Britain’s political structures
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‘Unbelievable Incompetence or a Cynical Betrayal’: Jane and Nadia’s Journey Through the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ Scheme
Alexandra Hall Hall documents the hurdles at every step experienced by Jane in bringing Nadia and her family to the UK – and questions why the Government created a system that seems deliberately difficult for those who want to help Ukrainians in need
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Are the Royals Trapped in a Gilded Cage – Or Is Britain?
Is the Royal Family trapped by Britain’s past or is the problem our inability to conceive of a social order without monarchy?
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Could Ukraine Mark a Turning Point for Western Democracy?
After years of turning a blind eye to Vladimir Putin’s aggression, the West finally appears to be uniting against him – as Ukraine continues to pay the cost
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Global Britain or Lonely Britain?
Despite its claims of exceptionalism and freedom for success outside the EU, the reality is the UK is no longer in the room where it happens, says former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Another Country – Not the One I Represented as a Diplomat for 30 Years’
Alexandra Hall Hall, who resigned from the Foreign Office over Brexit lies, now thinks the British malaise is much deeper than that or Boris Johnson
