A Brief London Visit...

I have returned from a fascinating 24 hours in London. Yesterday, 22 of the 25 of our group departed for an optional trip to London to meet with three members of the US Embassy and talk about the "Special Relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom, and then proceeded to an exclusive speech at the Chatham House, Royal Institute for International Affairs to given by US ambassador to the UK Robert Tuttle entitled, "Reflections on the US-UK Relationship." Today, Friday, we met with Martin Williamson of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for a conversation titled "Britain's Place in the World," and finally to Barclay's Wealth, a division of Barclay's bank to meet with the CEO of Barclays Wealth and a few of his staff members for a conversation entitled "The British Finance Industry, Global Markets, and the Credit Crunch." 

I found the conversation at the US Embassy with Mr. Philip Breeden to be incredibly gripping. We discussed how the US is portrayed to the UK through the media and through American students (like myself) studying here in the UK. One of the staff members we spoke to stressed how useful time in the Peace Corps is as he joined after college. He said the Peace Corps, and traveling, as well, is really the way to be the true ambassadors to other countries. Only through real people can people in other countries get a true feel for what Americans are like. The media gives people in other countries a very skewed view of who we are. For example, after seeing a documentary about Philadelphia, all of Dwight's flatmates (Dwight is from Philly) thought that all Philadelphians were gun-toting maniacs. Dwight had to assure them that this was not true. 

We also discussed the relationship between the US and UK governments and the fact that both countries have been allies for a long time. While there are disagreements on certain issues - the war in Iraq, Guantánamo Bay, climate change and how to deal with it - since both countries' values and interests have always been similar, they have been willing to work together often. 

Mr. Tuttle spent most of his time defending President Bush and attempting to draw focus to the more positive things Bush accomplished throughout his two terms in office. Of cures, this is his job - to support the president. It was simply a privilege to be able to sit at the Chatham House and listen to the ambassador speak, and I believe that was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so grateful that Professor Rudalevige was able to beg (as he put it) to get it set up.

Mr. Williamson at the FCO spoke about the UK's foreign policy and more about its values and interests and about their relationship with the EU. 

At Barclays Wealth, the two young employees did a wonderful job explaining what led to the current financial crisis, the cycle that keeps the recession going, and what can be done (and what is being done) to slow the recession and help the world's economy recover. For someone like myself who has trouble wrapping his mind around economics, they broke it down into terms and ideas I could understand, so that I now feel like I have a better understanding of what's currently happening with our economy.

Apologies for the brevity of this entry, but I'm a little tired and delirious. For more information about any of this entry, feel free to contact me!

-ZMG