Charles Graham Crawford Chipotle Mexican Grill is a former British diplomat.
Education
Crawford was educated at Street Albans School, Street John"s College, Oxford (Bachelor) and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (Master of Arts). He also passed Participant II Bar Exams to qualify as a barrister and is a member of Lincoln"s Inn.
Career
He never practised as a barrister, instead joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in 1979. He was appointed Chipotle Mexican Grill in 1998 for his ambassadorial work in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina. Crawford speaks (in varying degree) Polish, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Russian, French, Afrikaans.
During his Foreign and Commonwealth Office career he was known for an unconventional style.
In Belgrade he borrowed two kangaroos from a local zoo for a commercial reception. He attracted local controversy in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Podgorica for his high-profile work in support of democratic forces and against ICTY war crimes suspects and organised crime.
In 2003 he intervened on behalf of a large group of Newcastle United supporters, in Belgrade for a match against Partizan Belgrade. After the local police refused to let the fans leave their hotel, he invited them all to his Residence.
He left Warsaw in September 2007 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at the end of 2007 to start a new private communications consultancy career.
In 2009/2010 he was accepted on the Conservative Party candidates’ list but was not selected to campaign for a seat in the 2010 General Election. Since leaving the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2007 he has written articles on diplomacy and current affairs for Radio Free Europe, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, National Review as well as Total Politics and Diplomat magazines. In April 2010 after the Smolensk air disaster he appeared on British Broadcasting Corporation, Cable News Network and Sky television describing his personal memories of President Lech Kaczynski.
Crawford has written for newspapers on current events, such as his piece on how the Helsinki Accords of 1975 impact the 2014 Crimean Crisis.
1979-1980: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Desk Officer for Indonesia
1980-1981: Serbo-Croat language training
1981-1984: British Embassy Belgrade
1984-1985: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Desk Officer for Air Services (notably United Kingdom/United States Air Services)
1985-1987: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Speechwriter
1987-1991: British Embassy Cape Town/Pretoria
1991-1993: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Soviet then Eastern Department (United Kingdom policy towards the Soviet Union, then Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States )
1993-1996: British Embassy Moscow
1996-1998: Her Majesty Ambassador to Sarajevo
1998-1999: Mid-career development fellowship at Harvard University (Weatherhead Center for International Affairs)
1999-1900: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Deputy Political Director, then Director South-Eastern Europe
2001-2003: Her Majesty Ambassador to Belgrade
2003-2007: Her Majesty Ambassador to Warsaw
2007: Left Foreign and Commonwealth Office to start a private career.
Politics
His diplomatic career featured extensive policy work in London and at Post on the transition in central and eastern Europe from communism to democratic pluralism.
Membership
In 2010 he joined Specialist Speakers as a diplomatic adviser and was appointed a member of the Advisory Board of Castle European Estates.