CHRIS PATTEN

Globalisation, energy, international crime, Weapons of Mass Destruction, nuclear proliferation, small arms proliferation,international drugs trafficking, climate change, water shortage, migration, and epidemic disease, are in the list of challenges faced by our world. This book analyses what we know in each of these areas. Globalizacion, energia, crimen internacional, Armas de Destruccion Masiva, proliferacion nuclear, proliferacion de las armas de mano, trafico internacional de drogas, cambio climatico, sequia y falta de agua, migraciones y epidemias estan todas en la lista de los desafios a los que se enfrenta nuestro mundo. Esta obra analiza los datos que tenemos sobre cada una de estas areas.

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong, published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not (as other British colonies over the decades) for independence, but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese, from whom most of its territory had been leased 99 years previously. Over the next five years he kept this diary, which describes in detail how Hong Kong was run as a British colony and what happened as the handover approached. The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese, about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self-government would continue after 1997.

Fue una tarde fría y lluviosa de junio cuando Chris Patten, último gobernador británico de Hong Kong, recibió plegada la Union Jack y dijo adiós a la última joya del imperio. Como presagio del futuro inmediato, el clima se encargo de realzar la incertidumbre que rodeaba al retorno de la isla a manos chinas. Meses mas tarde, el mismo Patten plasmaria por escrito su experiencia durante la transicion y sus valiosas reflexiones acerca del complejo futuro de la antigua colonia.

From 1999 to 2004 Chris Patten was a member of the European Commission with responsibility for its External Relations. The first half of this book deals with his views on Britain's relationship with the European Community. I am not an enthusiast for Brussels myself, but I found this a most eloquent critique of Euroscepticism. Some things come out very strongly: Lord Patten's admiration of post-war Germany and for Helmuth Kohl in particular, and his rightful contempt for the Germanophobia so widespread in Britain and so fanned by the popular press and television. He puts it down to the fact that the `British' victory over Germany is the last episode in British history of which Britons can be proud, so that they compulsively replay that reel over and over again. He is contemptuous of the Tory Party, which, having under Heath taken Britain into Europe, then became the home of what Patten considers illogical arguments about sovereignty (a concept he examines with masterful authority). He is equally scathing about the British illusion that there really is something like a Special Relationship with the United States. The USA actually wants Britain to have a closer relationship with the European Union, and makes no compromises with British interests whenever those diverge from those of the United States. And although Europe and the United States share many values and Europe owes much to the USA in politics and culture, this has, since the end of the First World War, always been counter-pointed with a strand of anti-Americanism in Europe. Patten examines the many ways in which Europe and America are very different, pointing, among other things, to the pervasive influence of religion in the US, to a nationalism which is more overt and assertive across the Atlantic than it is now in Western Europe, to a much more unrestrained capitalism, to national and individual attitudes to budget deficits, to gun-ownership and to capital punishment. On all these matters Patten much prefers the European way; and clearly the ascendancy of the gung-ho, unilateralist neo-cons - Patten has selected some choice quotations from Bush, Rumsfeld, and Bolton to this effect - has done nothing to make America more popular in Europe, - not to mention the USA opting out of Kyoto, insisting on immunity from the International Criminal Court, and flouting the Geneva Conventions at Guantanamo Bay. It is all such a far cry from the internationalist approach of Truman, Marsha

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor to try to prepare it not as other British colonies over the decades for independence but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese from whom most of its territory had been leased 99 years previously Over the next five years he kept this diary which describes in detail how Hong Kong was run as a British colony and what happened as the handover approached The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were belatedly strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self government would continue after 1997 Unexpectedly his opponents included not only the Chinese themselves but some British businessmen and civil service mandarins upset by Patten s efforts for whom political freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong seemed less important than keeping on the right side of Beijing The book concludes with an account of what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover a powerful assessment of recent events and Patten s reflections on how to deal with China then and now

In June of 1997, over a century and a half of British rule in Hong Kong came to an end. Chris Patten writes about his experiences as the last governor of the colony of Hong Kong. He explains why he adopted the stance that he did, and how he fought his battles.

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong, published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not (as other British colonies over the decades) for independence, but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese, from whom most of its territory had been leased 99 years previously. Over the next five years he kept this diary, which describes in detail how Hong Kong was run as a British colony and what happened as the handover approached. The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese, about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self-government would continue after 1997. Unexpectedly, his opponents included not only the Chinese themselves, but some British businessmen and civil service mandarins upset by Pattens efforts, for whom political freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong seemed less important than keeping on the right side of Beijing. The book concludes with an account of what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover, a powerful assessment of recent events and Pattens reflections on how to deal with China - then and now.

Chris Patten was a cradle Catholic (hence First Confession), became on the most prominent Tory Wets of the 1980s and 1990s, and went on to hold a series of prominent public offices - Chairman of the Conservative Party, the last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Affairs, Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the BBC, advisor to the Pope - as he self-deprecatingly puts it a Grand Poo-bah, the Lord High Everything Else. He writes with wry humour about his time in all these offices, taking us behind the scenes and showing us unexpected sides of many of the great figures of the day. No political writer is so purely enjoyable as Chris Patten.

Not Quite the Diplomat describes what has been happening in Britain, Europe and the world since 1997 from the perspective of one at the heart of international events. In examining how we got to where we are, he writes candidly about many of the major players and what happened behind closed doors. In arguing about where we should be, he writes with the directness of a man freed at last from the bonds of diplomatic restraint. Will the British still be trying to work out who we are and what we want to be as the world moves on? How far can Europe expand - and is Europe all a terrible mistake or where our destiny lies? Does the old, fractured Western alliance still have the time and the will to shape the world before the rise of India and China? Chris Pattens answers to these questions are pungent and devastatingly well informed. No recent book by a politician of any political persuasion has been so engaging, so outspoken - and often so funny. If Chris Patten is no longer the diplomat, it is the readers of this book who are the beneficiaries.

Globalisation, energy, international crime, Weapons of Mass Destruction, nuclear proliferation, small arms proliferation, international drugs trafficking, climate change, water shortage, migration, epidemic disease, the fraying of the nation state: the list of challenges facing our world is itself proliferating rapidly, and nobody seems to have much of a grip on what is going on. Digesting vast amounts of information from a multiplicity of sources, and drawing on his experience at the highest levels of national and international politics, Chris Patten analyses what we know in each of these areas and argues how in each of them we could get somewhere we might want to be. Very little, he says, has turned out as we might have expected twenty years ago, but there is plenty we can still do.Readers of Pattens previous books will know what a penetrating analyst and engaging writer he is. This is his most ambitious and impressive yet.