Charles Crawford (born 1954) is a former British diplomat.
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He was educated at St Albans School, St John's College, Oxford and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; he also passed Part II Bar Exams to qualify as a barrister and is a member of Lincoln's Inn. He never practised as a barrister, instead joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1979.[1] His diplomatic career featured extensive policy work in London and at Post on the transition in central and eastern Europe from communism to democratic pluralism. He is one of the leading diplomatic experts on the problems of former Yugoslavia; he was awarded the CMG in 1998 for his work in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During his FCO career he was known for an unconventional style. In Belgrade he borrowed two kangaroos from a local zoo for a commercial reception. He attracted local controversy in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Podgorica for his high-profile work in support of democratic forces and against ICTY war crimes suspects and organised crime. In 2003 he intervened on behalf of a large group of Newcastle United supporters, in Belgrade for a match against Partizan Belgrade; after the local police refused to let the fans leave their hotel, he invited them all to his Residence.[1] When Ambassador in Poland in 2005 an e-mail sent by him to the FCO about the EU Budget negotiations was leaked to The Sunday Times, generating much interest (positive and negative) in the UK, Poland and more widely.
He left Warsaw in September 2007 and the FCO at the end of 2007 to start a new private communications consultancy career. In 2009/2010 he was accepted on the Conservative Party candidates’ list but was not selected to campaign for a seat in the 2010 general elections. Since leaving the FCO in 2007 he has written articles on diplomacy and current affairs for Radio Free Europe, the The Guardian, The Independent, National Review as well as Total Politics and Diplomat magazines. In 2008 he set up his own website which has achieved some prominence in libertarian/conservative circles.
In February 2010 after giving training in official communication technique to some senior Maltese officials he was falsely accused by the some Maltese media outlets of being a paid ‘spin-doctor’ for the current Malta government. In April 2010 after the Smolensk air disaster he appeared on the BBC, CNN and Sky TV describing his personal memories of President Lech Kaczynski. He is a Vice-President of Conservative Friends of Poland.[2] He is a founder member of ADRg Ambassadors, a panel of former British Ambassadors set up in 2010 offering corporate diplomacy services in consultancy, mediation and training (i.e. applying diplomatic skills and techniques in international business settings). In 2010 he joined Specialist Speakers as a diplomatic adviser and was appointed a member of the Advisory Board of Castle European Estates.
Crawford is married with three children. Of particular note is his son, Robert, who is currently JCR Committee Freshers' Rep at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge[3] . Robert, a keen ballet dancer and budding rap artist is also known for his vice presidency of the exclusive "Parker Society" at Corpus. He also played Quagmire in the ADC stage production of Family Guy. In support of his son's continued struggle with Down's syndrome, Crawford is a benefactor of several charities including the Down's Syndrome Association, hosting a charity ball on the association's behalf at their home in September 2011[4]. Following a recent incident involving some swans, Robert is no longer allowed to keep pets. In order to enforce this, the family home is under constant police surveillance.
1979–80: FCO: Desk Officer for Indonesia
1980–81: Serbo-Croat language training
1981–84: British Embassy Belgrade
1984–85: FCO: Desk Officer for Air Services (notably UK/US air services)
1985–87: FCO: Speechwriter
1987–91: British Embassy Cape Town/Pretoria
1991–93: FCO: Soviet then Eastern Department (UK policy towards the Soviet Union, then Russia and CIS)
1993–96: British Embassy Moscow
1996–98: HM Ambassador to Sarajevo
1998–99: Mid-career development fellowship at Harvard University (Weatherhead Center for International Affairs)
1999–00: FCO: Deputy Political Director, then Director South-Eastern Europe
2001–03: HM Ambassador to Belgrade
2003–07: HM Ambassador to Warsaw
2007: Left FCO to start a private career
He speaks (in varying degree) Polish, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Russian, French, Afrikaans.