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Articles by Alex Starritt
The Best Business Books of 2025: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award
recommended by Andrew Hill FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award It’s been another big year for technology and AI, but books on geopolitics and global political rivalries are front and centre on the shortlist of the 2025 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.
Making the global village a reality for policy
There’s a scene in The Thick of It when Hugh Abbot, the new minister for social affairs, is in his car going to a press conference with his special advisers when the policy he wants to announce is nixed from on high. Having gathered the national press, he needs to find something else to announce instead and asks his advisers for suggestions.
The 10 traits today's civil servants need to succeed
Most civil servants must sometimes wish they were Sir Humphrey with his power to machinate, obfuscate and remonstrate his way to whatever result he desired. But the truth is that Humphrey might not make the grade in today's civil service. The skills needed to get things done have changed. After dozens of interviews with excellent civil servants from around the world, we have isolated the 10 abilities they need to succeed in modern government: 1.
The 10 traits today's civil servants need to succeed
Most civil servants must sometimes wish they were Sir Humphrey with his power to machinate, obfuscate and remonstrate his way to whatever result he desired. But the truth is that Humphrey might not make the grade in today's civil service. The skills needed to get things done have changed. After dozens of interviews with excellent civil servants from around the world, we have isolated the 10 abilities they need to succeed in modern government: 1.
The five things all civil servants wish for
“I wish that ‘local government officer’ could replace ‘fireman’ as the sexiest occupation.” That is just one of the bushels of wishes we've collected from civil servants in the past few weeks. Keeping everything anonymous so they could speak freely, we asked officials on five continents – from the very top of institutions and international organisations right down to the people on the frontline in their neighbourhoods – what one thing they would wish for in their work.
The five things all civil servants wish for
“I wish that ‘local government officer’ could replace ‘fireman’ as the sexiest occupation.” That is just one of the bushels of wishes we've collected from civil servants in the past few weeks. Keeping everything anonymous so they could speak freely, we asked officials on five continents – from the very top of institutions and international organisations right down to the people on the frontline in their neighbourhoods – what one thing they would wish for in their work.
How to disarm a dictator
As the UN’s High Representative for Disarmament, Angela Kane had to negotiate with member states from a seemingly impossible position: with no real leverage, and with them paying for her organisation. In short: how do you persuade a country to give up the expensive chemical or nuclear weapons it has not only bought and paid for, but that it considers vital to its national defence and that, in the nuclear case, have given it a seat at the UN’s own Security Council?
How many people does it take to change 10 billion light bulbs?
Two, if they're public servants with a gift for mobilising countries from China to the USA. The headline-grabbing agreement at the Paris climate conference in December overshadowed another significant international climate deal concluded in the same week.
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