Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG

Position: Senior Associate Fellow

Sir Christopher Meyer was almost 40 years in the British Diplomatic Service. His career culminated as Ambassador to the United States during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies between 1997 and 2003. His five and a half years in Washington, which made him the longest-serving Ambassador to the USA since the Second World War, coincided with 9/11, the wars in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, and the preparation for war in Iraq.  

Before then he was Ambassador to Germany and had postings to the former Soviet Union, Spain and the European Union in Brussels. He was also Press Secretary to Prime Minister Sir John Major, Press Secretary to Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey, now Lord, Howe, and speech writer to three Foreign Secretaries, James Callaghan, Anthony Crosland and David Owen.

Sir Christopher was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 1998.

After his retirement from the Diplomatic Service in 2003, Sir Christopher chaired the Press Complaints Commission for six years until March 2009.

Sir Christopher is now a regular television, radio and newspaper commentator on international affairs and the media.  In 2005 he published DC Confidential, a memoir of his time in the Diplomatic Service. His last book, Getting Our Way: 500 Years of Adventure and Intrigue: the Inside Story of British Diplomacy, was published in 2009 and accompanied a three-part TV series for BBC4. In 2012 he presented and co-wrote a six-part TV documentary series for Sky Atlantic, Networks of Power.  Sir Christopher has also made several documentaries for BBC Radio 4 with diplomatic and press themes.

Sir Christopher is an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and a visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina. He is a non-executive director of the Arbuthnot Banking Group and is Chairman of the Advisory Board of Pagefield, a public relations company. He is a Freeman of the City of London and member of the Worshipful Company of Stationers.  

 

RUSI articles and analysis by this author

British flag What is the British national interest? 21 Jul 2010
Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador to the United States, reflects on the future prospects for the British national interest.

Gordon Brown Barack Obama No Place for Yes Men in Special Relationship 24 Jan 2009
The UK's close ties with the US are well placed to endure if we allow for full debate and disagreement and avoid unrealistic expectations of what it can achieve.

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