Diplomacy: The first line of defence

A light sandwich lunch is served at 12.55pm. All welcome.

James Kidner has worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1985, serving in South East Asia and the Balkans, as well as working on issues ranging from the Commonwealth to counter-terrorism and nuclear proliferation to European enlargement. On secondment from the FCO he worked for the Leader of the House of Commons and for the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and from 2003-2006 he was Deputy Private Secretary to The Prince of Wales.

In 2007 James took five years’ unpaid leave from the FCO to set up and run a new educational charity, the Coexist Foundation, which worked around the world to help people understand better the role of religion in a globalised society. He returned to the FCO in 2013, working in the Policy Unit on a project to establish a new Diplomatic Academy. In September 2014 he was appointed as Senior Directing Staff at the Royal College of Defence Studies.