Formerly Diplomat for the UK to the European Union
Robert Cooper worked for the EU High Representatives Javier Solana and Cathy Ashton until 2012. Before that he served in the British Diplomatic Service, abroad in Tokyo, Brussels and Bonn, and at home as Head of the Policy Planning Staff and Head of the Defence and Overseas Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. His book on the state system in Europe, The Breaking of Nations, won the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2003. A second book, The Ambassadors - Thinking about Diplomacy from Machiavelli to Modern Times was published in spring 2022 by Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
An Honorary Governor (2019-), The Ditchley Foundation.