Epstein Secrets

very spirit of this moment of self- determination, they said. This was wishful thinking: Of the five Arab revolutions and the one near-revolution in Bahrain, external actors have played a decisive role in at least four. Yet, in the absence of anything resembling a grand strategy, the Obama administratio

has an impact on financial markets everywhere. Obama is the overwhelming favorite of most European electorates, and the likes of France's President Francois Hollande see him as a vital ally in the European debate between the more Keynesian growth-oriented policies of the center-left and the austerity orientation

es, and the likes of France's President Francois Hollande see him as a vital ally in the European debate b

inst Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, as well as what they perceived as Washington's hostile attitude toward the governments in Egypt and Bahrain. In response to these disagreements, Saudi Arabia has embarked on an independent effort to train Syrian rebels - even enlisting Pakistani trainers

at-chomping enforcement tigers. As for the United States, it has, in the French view, gone a touch camembert-soft. The administration of President Francois Hollande is not known for its decisiveness on the domestic front. Vacillation accompanies economic drift. But, perhaps in compensation, it has shown a resol

finds itself to the right of Washington. This has led to differences. There is talk of the trauma of Aug. 31. On that Saturday afternoon President Hollande took a call from President Obama. A ramped-up France was in a state of readiness for the expected joint military response the next morning to the S

servative Sunni Muslim kingdom is at odds with Iran's revolutionary Shi'ite leaders in struggles across the Arab world, including in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. Most of all, Riyadh sees Iran's open support for Syrian President Bashar al- Assad in fighting a rebellion backed by Gulf states as a for

rance has asserted herself on the international scene in a very active way—first under President Nicolas Sarkozy and then even more under President Francois Hollande. She led the way among Western powers to intervene in Libya in order to oust Muammar Khaddafi. She has pushed the hardest line of all Western power

Sarkozy. Another leading figure, Bernard-Henri Levy, played a formidable pressure role on governmental politics under Sarkozy and still does under Hollande. The greater explanation however may be external—the role France thinks it can still play on the world scene. Ever since 1945, France has strived t