To describe Wilton Park in one sentence? It is British soft power at its best. Wilton Park is how Britain likes to see itself and how others like to see Britain: a country house surrounded by a carefully crafted pastoral landscape. A wide horizon, a good westerly wind, and, well, the occasional splash of rain. Host to the world - and to the open, intense, and fair debate about it. Classy, not glitzy. Eminent not only because of its history but because of its contribution to today’s problem-solving. Provincial and cosmopolitan at the same time. Old-fashioned yet informal, traditional yet deeply concerned about the future. For anybody with an interest in how a nation can demonstrate its confidence and impress its guests, while simultaneously serving others and the greater good, Wilton Park is the benchmark. This is how it should be done. And with a breakfast like this, what can go wrong? Germany, my own country, has no equivalent (neither place nor breakfast).
Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe, on the FCO blog (more here, have a barf bag ready).
Now I'm not reading the FCO's blog for incisive commentary (indeed I don't really read it for starters), but this kind of saccharine self-polishing is amazing even by their standards. I'm more putting this up here as an example of the nonsense that passes from the mouths of people in the 'diplomacy by cultural understanding and building dialogue' biz these days.
If there's a shark relevance, it's that people capable of writing crap like this should be fed to one.