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Ian Proud

Ian Proud was a member of HM Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. From July 2014 to February 2019 Ian was posted to the British Embassy in Moscow. He was also Director of the Diplomatic Academy for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Anglo-American School of Moscow.

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April 22, 2025
Germany is committing suicide but I don’t agree with JD Vance that it’s a civilisational issue

More people, fewer Germans, less agency and no growth is the toxic cocktail that J D Vance has laid bare.

April 20, 2025
‘Sanction Russia or you can’t join our club’ – Eurocrats blackmail Serbia ahead of Victory Day

The war in Ukraine has prompted Eurocrats in Brussels to force a binary choice on Serbia – ‘you’re either with us or with Russia’.

April 18, 2025
Fateful errors: Why NATO leaders should have listened to George Kennan in 1997

In 1997, veteran U.S. diplomat George Kennan stated that ‘expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American foreign policy in the entire post-Cold War era’.

April 16, 2025
European and British leaders are using the Sumy airstrike to push for the war in Ukraine to continue

European and British leaders need to get behind real negotiations, Ian Proud writes.

April 14, 2025
L’Unione Europea deve riformarsi o morire

L’Unione Europea non esisterà nel 2040 se continuerà a centralizzare i poteri a scapito degli Stati Membri sovrani.

April 14, 2025
Starmer is curiously aligned with Russia on global trade but doesn’t realise it

Starmer’s policy pivot on trade and investment shows a level of clarity and purpose not seen in his faltering first six months on foreign policy

April 9, 2025
The European Union should reform or die

The European Union won’t exist in 2040 if it continues to centralise powers at the expense of sovereign Member States.

April 6, 2025
Values have no place in resolving the war in Ukraine

The idea that NATO has clear and immutable values that are embraced with equal vigour by every Member State is a fantasy.

April 4, 2025
Beware of Americans offering to make you safe

America, with all its well-meaning missionary intent, is making the world less safe through its misplaced and ill-thought through interventions.

April 1, 2025
The European Union readies itself for the possibility of war with Russia

The best way to prevent future conflict with Russia is to exact a price, remove blank cheques, close all doors while leaving them open to a possible reconciliation at some future point in the past.

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