Carne Ross is a former British diplomat who resigned over the Iraq war. After leaving the Foreign Office, Carne founded and now leads Independent Diplomat, an expert team of former diplomats which advises democratic but marginalised governments and political groups so that their views are heard internationally. Since its founding, Independent Diplomat has advised many countries including Kosovo and South Sudan on their independence processes, Croatia on its EU accession, and the Syrian opposition. He is a trained negotiator and economist, and the founder and director of the Independent Diplomat. He has over fifteen years of diplomatic experience in the British Foreign Office and the United Nations.