When preparing to speak to Dr Peter Abbott OBE, an experienced diplomat, cinematic portrayals of intense diplomatic deals and crises came to mind. Halfway through our discussion, Abbott calmly mentions: “My colleagues have just said the building is shaking … I’ll call you back.” 20 minutes later, he shares that there’d been a 4.8-magnitude earthquake in nearby New Jersey. Earthquakes rarely happen in New England, where Abbott serves as his majesty’s consul general. Despite the unusual event confirming some of my prior speculation, throughout our discussion he paints a rich picture of diplomacy and the core values of curiosity and humility held by any “good diplomat”.

Abbott’s career has spanned west Africa to Washington DC and Islamabad to Boston. Still, diplomacy “was an entirely accidental career choice” with “no sort of grand plan”. Nonetheless, his Cambridge education, earning a BA and PhD in Greek Tragedy at Magdalene College, prepared him well for the challenges he faces in his job. “I don’t use Greek tragedy regularly,” he chuckles. “The best thing that an education can give you is never to receive anything at face value.” As reality becomes increasingly unclear, “you really need to be a good critic nowadays.”

“The best thing that an education can give you is never to receive anything at face value”

Responding to my questions about how he adapts to such diverse postings, Abbott explains: “You’re always promoting the UK wherever you are, so the context of your work doesn’t change very much. I think a good diplomat is humble and aware that there are different ways of doing things around the world. If you have that humility […] I think that’s a good starting point […] You must be curious, ask good questions, listen, travel, try the food, listen to the music.” Despite adapting to life abroad, I ask what he misses most about being in the UK, “It’s home; you always miss home, the British sense of humour. I miss our approach to life, which is usually quite relaxed. I miss pubs and dogs in pubs.”

Abbott believes the UK’s role in the modern world “hasn’t changed a huge amount; we are still one of the world’s great conveners; we sit in all the world’s major decision-making centres.” There is international respect for the efficacy of the UK’s civil service, we have “one of the world’s most powerful armed forces”, and “our intelligence agencies are world-renowned.”

Abbott raises the simultaneous strength of British soft power through music, film, television and the Premier League, posing that those features come together into an enduring and “potent mix”. He challenges a tendency for “navel-gazing” a declining role in the world, suggesting: “Britain has a huge amount to add to solving some of the very difficult challenges that we’re facing, and our history, for better or worse, means that we have deep relationships around the world – long-lasting relationships that give us a unique ability to analyse and provide insight.”

Abbott interned on Capitol Hill in his younger days and so I ask if turbulent elections on both sides of the Atlantic could strain transatlantic relations: “We get a little bit obsessed with that dynamic. The UK–US relationship is so deep, so multifaceted […] that relationship will always endure, irrespective of who’s in Downing Street or the White House.” He cements this in the history of “science and technology at the heart of the UK–US relationship”. During the second world war and its aftermath, “it was technology that started to build the special relationship […] Winston Churchill sponsored the Tizard Mission, which was the fact that the UK had been developing unique radar capability […] so Churchill sent British scientists over here to MIT in Cambridge, MA to develop that technology.” Within the year, radar detection turned the tide of the war.

“I love American optimism; there’s never anything impossible. Americans have a very healthy attitude to failure”

Similarly, he highlights the Manhattan Project and the endurance of the nuclear relationship, affirmed by the recent AUKUS pact to collaborate and supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Science and tech are at the heart of his consulate’s mission, connecting Britain to a global innovation hub across biotech, AI, clean energy, and beyond. I asked Abbot to share the best thing about living in the USA. “I love American optimism; there’s never anything impossible. Americans have a very healthy attitude to failure […] that’s why America will always be one of the big science superpowers.”

Ultimately, “there is no doubt that our science is as good as American science. Where we have a bit to learn from the US is how we can take this science to turn into commercial product.” Abbott illustrates how New England has one of the world’s highest concentrations of universities and is proud of this region’s regard for the University of Cambridge, notably what he frames as Cambridge’s capacity for innovation and commercialising them for social good.

When asked for his most memorable diplomatic experience, Abbott draws on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s recent visit to Boston for the Earthshot prize at the iconic home of the Boston Red Sox, which was followed by “a pretty extraordinary 12 months”. The Queen’s platinum jubilee, her passing, and the coronation spotlighted the royal family. They can be “a very powerful advocate”, he explains, referencing descriptions of the monarch as “Britain’s top diplomat”.

Finally, I posed my most significant question: How do you take your tea? Without hesitation: “Strong English breakfast tea, milk, one sugar,” he laughs. “I don’t drag Britishness around with me. I try to be in the place I’m in; coffee is done well here.” Abbott values serving one’s own nation and fostering connections with the homes of others just as much. Despite global turbulence, his enduring trust and optimism in the strength of the US relationship and Britain’s international role is encouraging.