As the ‘two Michaels’ are released from being held hostage in China, our Chatham House event explains what state hostage taking is and what we can do to end it.
mental health
Freedom day? Hostages can tell us a thing or two about what that’s like…
The mental health deficit of the pandemic has created a mental health dividend – awareness, willingness to talk about how we are feeling, comfort in checking in on friends. As we emerge on Freedom Day, hostages have a lot to teach us about how to adjust.
why hostages and their families deserve our help
I realized early on that foreign policy and national security were not things that happened to ‘other people’ – when a family member was kidnapped in Colombia these big and scary things became an every day part of my life.
on transitions, new beginnings and not enough minutes in the day
Today is the longest day of the year. Just as I could do with as many minutes and hours as possible, they are headed to bring light to people in another hemisphere. As I get going with the next stage of work/life transition, I realize that my past doesn’t have to dictate my future. That’s pretty amazing.
the awful wisdom of the hostage
The former hostage has had the very foundation of their beliefs, assumptions and priorities upended. Working out who you are, what matters, and processing the regrets you’ve allowed to surface – that’s a piece of the reintegration puzzle we need to talk about more.
we can do better – failures in US consular services
I recently came across this piece in the New York Times Magazine by Doug Bock Clark, whose work on Americans in trouble overseas I have come to respect and admire. He describes the plight of Americans held in Kuwait –… Read More ›
we are bellingcat: an intelligence agency for the people
Bellingcat have been key players in solving puzzles related to some of the most important intelligence challenges of the last decade; chemical attacks in Syria, the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 over the Ukraine and the Salisbury poisonings, to name just a few.
Do they replace our intelligence agencies? No, of course not. Should they make those agencies think again about what’s possible and how to make the most of open source data? Absolutely.
Learning from hostages – six secrets to resilience for these difficult times
Reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned from the former hostages I’ve gotten to known, here are six secrets of resilience to help get us all through a difficult winter ahead.
Dear President Biden, You’re right that the soul of the nation was on the ballot. Here are five commitments you should make to hostages and their families to show you are serious about protecting Americans and reestablishing US leadership in the world
Throughout the Presidential campaign, you told us this the soul of the nation was on the ballot. As President, your most important job is to protect Americans. How you treat American hostages and their families will tell us a lot about your values as Commander in Chief.
the joy of burnout
I’ve just finished The Joy of Burnout: How the end of the world can be a new beginning by Dr Dina Glouberman. I didn’t agree with every word, but it was refreshing to get a positive take on something so debilitating, and becoming more common.
