Thanks to the livejournal comment problems, I missed ‘ questions last weekend when I did the last interviews.

1. I tried to describe your job to a day or two ago, and realised I wasn’t entirely clear about what you do. I got the impression that it was to do with NGOs, and getting politicians to explain themselves, but I was fairly short on details. Could you elaborate?

   When asked a similar question by , I answered:

   I’m a political analyst, the head of a team doing research on the Balkans and South Caucasus (and a couple of other places), and also responsible for selling our recommendations to those international officials who have the power to make things happen.

   To elaborate a bit: we publish reports on war zones or potential war zones, with the aim of preventing wars, or resolving conflicts where they have already happened. (You can get notification of them by adding to your friends list, among other methods.) Our methodology is basically a) to have people on the ground full-time doing the research, b) to include not just description but prescription in the reports, ie telling the international community (and often but not always local officials) what they should be doing better, and c) to not just publish reports that sit on the library shelf or on the internet, but proactively go and talk to said government officials and ask them why they are not following our sensible recommendations.

   My personal role is to manage our field offices in my region (Balkans and South Caucasus) and direct our other work related to Europe (Moldova and Cyprus, odd bits relating to the EU), both in terms of overseeing the production of reports and also in terms of the advocacy of our recommendations to international officials. Fun but tiring.

2. If you had the chance to go into book-journalism full time, would you do so? If so, why; if not, why not?

   I think that if I found a potential employer who thought my book reviews were worth the same as the work I currently do, I would jump at it like a shot. It would be strictly a commercial decision; I would love to sit at home and read books all day (and then write about them) but at the moment I probably can’t afford it.

3. You seem to carry your Northern-Irishness with you everywhere. Could you muse a little about whether there’s a national stereotype, and whether you fit it well? There’s a related question about Catholic stereotypes, and another about the intersection of the two.

   I definitely exploit my background for the extra credibility it gives me in my work. And I think it’s fair enough to do so. Many of the countries I deal with have gone through traumatic and horrible experiences, and are also sick of external do-gooders dropping by with well-meaning advice which often completely misses the target. I try not to overplay it, but sometimes it does make sense, as when I tried to put the 2001 Macedonian conflict in perspective here (and here)

   But I don’t think I fit the Irish (or Northern Irish) stereotype particularly well. I am a good public speaker, and I like a drink, so to that extent it’s true, but I am very bookish, my accent doesn’t sound right, and I’m (usually) slow to anger rather than following the fiery Irish stereotype.

   As for the Catholic stereotype, I like to think that my faith has helped ground my intellectual endeavours securely (see entries on religion). But remember that both my grandmothers were converts from Protestantism, and anyway I have only three children! (And see also entries on the Pope.)

4. Do you keep pets, or have you done so in the past? What kind of pets do/would you have?

   We did have a kitten, briefly, about four years ago, until it disappeared. I wouldn’t mind having a cat again some time. But having three small children, especially in our situation, is already quite a big responsibility; I’m not rushing to take on more at this stage.

5. Your user info page describes you as a “lapsed medievalist”. Could you talk a bit about medievalism, and the nature of the lapse?

   I’ve written previously about my medievalism here. The lapse, I’m afraid, was again all about money; I had funding to move back to Belfast and switch to the history of Irish science project that became my PhD. I still kept up an interest in medieval stuff for several years after, but haven’t really done more than look at books or museum exhibits about the subject in the last few years. If I can ever take six months off, I will go back to it.

Had just posted this when five more questions came in from :

1. Confectionery keeps the proletariat in line and is therefore counter-revolutionary. Discuss. (Sorry, this one’s my boyfriend’s fault, but it amused me. 🙂

   I think I reject the premise of the question (that the aim of the capitalists is first and foremost to keep the proletariat in line). But I have also observed, at close quarters, royalty, presidents, prime ministers and government ministers, and even capitalists happily digging into confectionery, so if it’s a conspiracy to keep anyone in line it must be directed by entities from Elsewhere trying to take power over the whole of humanity.

2. What do you like about your job?

   The feeling that I’m helping make the world a better place. I also enjoy the thrill of talking to Very Important People.

3. What do you hate about your job?

   There’s a surprising amount of tedious admin (next time I meet you, I will tell you the story of the vehicles from our Sarajevo office). Also I don’t much like editing.

4. What was your favourite book/story/fairytale as a child?

   Definitely LotRThe Silmarillion and The Hobbit.

5. Yay Christmas or Bah humbug and why?

   Yay Christmas, for sure. The children love it, I get to do lots of cooking (which is one of my major unwinding activities), a chance to put work behind me, we usually have lots of visitors, and plenty of new books and time to read them in.

As usual post a comment if you want questions (still owed to a couple of you).

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