Despite the difference in their ages and world view, President Emmanuel Macron of France has spared no effort in creating a close bond with Donald Trump. He quickly understood that the US President, with his scepticism about traditional allies, required an investment of personal charm if the transatlantic relationship was going to survive.
He invited Mr Trump to attend France's annual Bastille Day military parade on July 14 last year, which pleased Mr Trump so much that he asked his aides to organise a similar display in Washington. The two presidential couples dined in a glitzy restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, an experience designed to please a man who lives in his own gilded tower.
Mr Macron has been rewarded with a state visit to Washington and has stepped up the flattery, describing the "special relationship" – a term previously used about the US and Britain – between two maverick political outsiders.
Mr Macron's diplomatic footwork is aimed at making France America's closest ally in Europe, unseating the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was Washington's go-to politician in the Obama era.
Apart from her difficulties in creating a governing coalition, Mrs Merkel alienated Mr Trump by declaring after his election victory that she would only work with him on the basis of German values. Mr Macron, by contrast, has not sought the moral high ground, speaking of differences between Europe and the US as discreet issues which can all be ironed out.
The effect in their personal chemistry is clear: when the chancellor last visited Washington (she is due to return later this week on a working visit) Mr Trump could not bring himself to shake her hand for the cameras. On Tuesday Mr Trump picked a tiny spot of dandruff (or was it lint?) from Mr Macron’s lapel to play up his bond with the “perfect” French leader.
Mr Macron has now become the Tony Blair of the new era, a role made vacant by Britain’s diplomatic death spiral after voting to leave the European Union two years ago. The position is fraught with risk and the shadow of Mr Blair hangs over him in Washington.
Mr Blair decided to stick close to then president George W Bush, despite their belonging to opposite poles of the political spectrum, believing he could moderate the Texan’s harsher instincts. This led to Britain joining in the US invasion of Iraq, which has ruined his reputation at home, although he still has a loyal following abroad.
Mr Macron has set himself the task of persuading Trump's White House not to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, denounced by the president as the "worst deal ever". He is demanding that the European signatories to the deal – Britain, France and Germany – find a way to "fix" it by the May 12 deadline.
In particular, Mr Trump argues that by focusing exclusively on the nuclear issue, the deal has given Iran a free hand to build ballistic missiles and to engage in military adventures across the region. The easing of some limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment in the 2020s – which is permitted under the deal – is seen as enabling Tehran to create a strategic weapon in short order.
Mr Macron, meanwhile, argues that for all its faults, the deal is preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon and nothing better is on offer. Instead of opening the deal for renegotiation, which he says is a non-starter, Mr Macron has proposed a follow-on deal to address the missile issues and the so-called “sunset clauses” which ease some restrictions on Iran.
Mr Trump has not ruled out a follow-on arrangement but it is far from certain that Iran would be willing to follow Mr Macron’s playbook. It believes that Washington is already in breach of the deal by using the threat of sanctions to prevent the normalisation of trade.
Although Mr Trump needs to look tough, it is possible he could delay his decision to allow his nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo – a fierce anti-Iran hawk – to take office.
If the US ends its participation in the deal, Iran has said it will withdraw too but it might make more sense for it to remain, thus entrenching a split in the international community between Washington on the one side and the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese on the other.
That would be a blow to Mr Macron. As the French political scientist Thomas Guenole has pointed out, the French public and media are keen on their presidents projecting France as a great power on the world stage so Mr Macron’s flattery is unlikely to damage him. But he would suffer if he got too little in return for his schmoozing.
The history of Europeans trying to influence policy in Washington teaches one lesson: the Europeans may whisper in the president’s ear but the Americans do what they want. This was humiliatingly made clear to Britain in 2003 when the then US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said it was unclear if British troops would take part in the Iraq war, a subject of huge political importance in London but – as he let slip – of little consequence in Washington.
Ultimately, it makes sense to see Washington as a stage on which European politicians perform before their home audiences. Mr Blair set out to steal the clothes of the Conservatives, hitherto the loudest proponents of the “special relationship” with the US, which he did with great success until he was undone by Iraq.
This is Mr Macron's moment in the sun. He might persuade Mr Trump to see things his way on Iran, or he may fail. But as Nathalie Nougayrede, the former editor of Le Monde, has written, the fact that he is playing a weak European hand shrewdly in Washington may give him the international stature and authority to pursue his real ambition – to lead the revitalisation of Europe in ways which clash with the instincts of the German public and political class.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Men’s singles
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)
Women’s Singles
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn)
Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
