Paul Docherty has spent most of his career in the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. After reading Economic History at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, he taught English Language and Literature in Spain and at Moscow State University. He then joined the British Council after completing his M.Litt in Linguistics and his first overseas post was in Helsinki. He subsequently served as Cultural Attaché/Deputy Director of the British Council in Moscow, and Cultural Counsellor/Director of the British Council in Prague, Rome, and Paris. Postings in the UK included Director Communications, Director Scotland, and Director UK 2012. Paul has wide-ranging interests in international relations and diplomacy - especially cultural relations, public and cultural diplomacy and soft power – and has delivered guest lectures on these topics at universities and institutions across Europe and in the UK. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2008.