Friday 24 July 2009

Denis MacShane damns foreign affairs pundits

Rotherham MP and former Minister of Europe Denis MacShane in the Independent today damns most commentators on foreign affairs in the UK press while praising the work of Timothy Garton Ash.
MacShane reviewing Timothy Garton Ash's new book 'Facts are Subversive' writes: "Most pundits on foreign affairs who clog up our comment pages have three things in common. They do not speak or read foreign languages. They dislike Europe or, if on the left, the United States. They tend to be former editors of national newspapers or magazines.
"As a result the reader seeking enlightenment on the evolution of geopolitics has to read Timothy Garton Ash. He is fluent in German, Polish and French. That may explain why he is the only British writer on foreign affairs who is translated and taken seriously in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland as well as the US."

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