The deal announced by the United States and Russia providing for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons by the middle of next year, is accompanied by a threat of international coercion if the Syrian regime fails to comply. Continue reading…
Author Archives: Anne Penketh
WMD concerns at heart of French policy
What a difference a decade makes.
In 2003, the French were derided in some quarters as “cheese eating surrender
monkeys” after Jacques Chirac opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq. Now, 10
years later, they are out on a limb in completely the opposite direction on Syria. Continue reading…
Postcard from… Ile de Bréhat
It’s a wind-whipped ferry crossing to the Ile de Bréhat off the northern Breton coast and the captain warns the passengers to allow extra time for their journey back to the mainland… Continue reading
New Iranian foreign minister could build bridges
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a photograph of the new Iranian foreign minister with a former senior American diplomat may signal a new direction for Iran’s fraught relations with the West over its nuclear programme. Continue reading…
Postcard from Paris
There’s one French politician who’s having a busman’s holiday this summer. He is Jean Lassalle, a centrist deputy and former shepherd from the Pyrenees, also known as “the walking deputy”. Continue reading…
Anne Penketh 