"There is a stronger capacity for initiative than before," former foreign minister Alain Juppe told journalists on Friday. He has forged close ties with Trump, adopted an ever more confrontational line against Iran and, in the past week, dramatically uprooted his own nation's political structures. BALANCING ACT"France is trying to act as a balance between Iran and Saudi Arabia," said Dominique Moïsi, special adviser in charge of international relations at the Paris-based Montaigne Institute. He has vowed to stick to the nuclear deal with Iran, while talking up ties with Trump and Saudi Arabia. "But so far it seems that Macron and his team have been very distracted, in a hurry to announce big initiatives but delivering very little."
