About the Newsletter

This is Terra Nullius. I hope it will be an occasional newsletter with thoughts and writing that are too long for something like Twitter and too short for anything more substantial. 

It will probably result from an interesting thing I’ve read or a place I’ve been that has triggered thoughts. It will likely be short and hopefully not bore you to death.

I have called the newsletter Terra Nullius, this is a Latin term that means “nobody’s land”. The name stems from my obsession with things like exclaves, enclaves and other territorial oddities that I may even occasionally cover in the newsletter.

About Me

My name is Ned Donovan. Until recently, I was a journalist and a freelance foreign correspondent covering news in the UK and abroad for seven years.

For the first few months of 2020 I spent time in Amman, the capital of Jordan, where I completed an intensive Modern Standard Arabic course which taught me two things: that my Arabic is not very good, and that I will keep trying to improve it. I also have an Arabic name: Faris.

I created and maintain @UK_Laws. This is a Twitter account that I have set up to automatically tweet any primary or secondary legislation put into effect in the UK. It is followed by more than 1,000 people, many of whom are members of legislatures, the Civil Service, the Diplomatic Corps, the media, and other important institutions.

Primarily my interests lie in Asia, specifically the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. I am an elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, and a Member of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs among others. I also have a great academic interest in history, as well as the very niche areas of phaleristics and heraldry.

In terms of previous writing, you can find much of my work by searching my name and I would happily supply some examples for anyone curious.

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Where I go and what I read

People

Occasionally writing.