Macron’s interests, for France or Himself ?

After spending months fighting coronavirus fires at home, French President Emmanuel Macron has switched his sights to the Middle East, flying last week to two key regional hot spots, Lebanon and Iraq; he hosted the MED7 summit August 9th in Corsica partly dominated by southern Europe’s growing friction with Turkey. The recent history of the Middle East teaches that there is little future for arbitrators or mediators in trying to consolidate lasting stability. It has been a long time since anyone has tried to do so, unless their actions are also driven by their own interests. This is the case of…