Charles Crawford CMG
Former British Ambassador
Poland; Serbia; Bosnia and Herzegovina
Languages
Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian; Polish; French; Russian
Area/Thematic Expertise
Central/Eastern Europe (former Yugoslavia, Poland, Russia); former communist ‘transition’ societies and problems; speechwriting; training; international negotiation; alternative dispute resolution, mediation, foreign policy, diplomacy, corporate diplomacy, government relations
Career Overview
Charles is a leading diplomatic expert on the transition from communism to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe.
After serving in the British Embassy in South Africa in the final years of apartheid, he worked in London and Moscow on the Russian transition from communism. He served as British Ambassador in Sarajevo after the Bosnia conflict, then in Belgrade after the Milosevic regime and finally in Warsaw during Poland’s accession to the European Union.
Charles played a significant personal role in coordinating international support for democratic movements in Serbia and Croatia and helped negotiate important aspects of the 2005 EU Budget deal and 2007 EU Lisbon Treaty. He was praised by British-Polish Chamber of Commerce for support for UK companies in Poland, including work to settle a complex disagreement between international pharmaceutical companies and the Polish government.
Charles heads up ADRg Ambassadors’ Training Programme and is a skilled trainer and public speaking expert. In his early career he served as UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Speechwriter to Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe and has helped write keynote speeches for various top European officials. In 1987 he wrote the first-ever FCO Guide to Speechwriting, still the basic FCO speechwriting training text.
He has delivered specialist training in negotiation, mediation, communication and speechwriting for public and private sector clients, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Union and various EU Foreign Ministries.
He is part of the Locarno Group, a panel of Foreign Office alumni who were recruited in 2011 to support and challenge formulation of UK foreign policy. He is also a political blogger for The Telegraph and his own blog www.charlescrawford.biz was ranked in the Top 30 Libertarian Blogs at the Total Politics Blog Awards 2011.
Charles is a member of ADRg Ambassadors' Management Committee. He is an accredited Mediator through ADR Group, a sister company to ADRg Ambassadors.
Recent Career History
- British Ambassador to Poland (2003-07)
- British Ambassador to Serbia (2001-03)
- British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996-98)
Professional Qualifications
- Barrister (English Bar)
- Qualified Mediator (ADR Group)
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- Dr Rachel Aron
- Sir Michael Arthur KCMG
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- John Buck
- Sir Colin Budd KCMG
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- Charles Crawford CMG
- Sir Stewart Eldon KCMG OBE
- Peter Jenkins CMG
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- John Macgregor CVO
- Sir David Madden KCMG
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