Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Maggie and Condi

It stands to reason that with only two weekdays on the job so far, the new UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett was likely to generate more press in a fashion contrast with Condi than with subtle changes of wording on Iran. Hence this article in Wednesday's Times of London, which, if you can't get your hands on the print edition, should be read in conjunction with this photograph.

While Condi is likely to find Maggie's work ethic much better than that of her French counterpart, it is increasingly likely that a new face is coming there too, with the latest revelations in the Clearstream affair: a secret Japanese bank account of Jacques Chirac and the apparent identification of the author of a set of anonymous, and possibly malicious, accusatory letters as the vice-president of EADS (the holding company for Airbus). One hopes that this shuffling of foreign ministers at a time of several international crises won't rebound on us all.

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