Carne Ross is the founder and director of Independent Diplomat. He has over fifteen years diplomatic experience in the British Foreign Office and United Nations.

His work and experience have covered a wide range of issues and regions, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the global environment, terrorism and post-conflict reconstruction. He is experienced in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy and familiar with major international institutions, in particular the United Nations.

Between 1997-98, he served as the speechwriter to the British Foreign Secretary, preparing speeches on all areas of British foreign policy. He then spent four and a half years in the UK delegation on the UN Security Council, where he was the delegation's Middle East "expert" (with the rank of First Secretary). His work included the drafting and negotiation of several important Security Council resolutions, such as SCR 1284 which rewrote the Council's Iraq policy and established UNMOVIC, the weapons inspection body. He also negotiated for the UK the resolution establishing the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and the Council's resolution of 12 September 2001 condemning the attacks of the day before.

Most recently, he served as Strategy Coordinator for the UN in Kosovo (UNMIK) where he devised and led a joint UN and government policy to implement a series of standards to improve governance, the rule of law and human rights protection, and advised the Secretary-General's Special Representative on diplomatic and political tactics.

Carne Ross is a trained negotiator and economist. He is also a playwright (The Fox enjoyed a short run in New York in early 2001) and author.

Carne Ross is available for press interviews and background briefings on a variety of matters, in particular the UN, the work of the UN Security Council and the functioning of diplomacy in general.  He also has expertise on Kosovo, the run-up to the Iraq war, sanctions and western policy on the Middle East.  Contact him directly at +1 212 594 8295.