I've seldom read a more literate or winning piece on foreign policy than this piece on Iran by Peter Hitchens. Almost reminds me of Evelyn Waugh's travel books. It also serves as a reminder that a short-sighted interventionism can often cause a far greater mess than the one it's trying to clean up.

It seemed to me to be a good time to go to Iran, a country currently moving toward the top of the Anglosphere’s list of Most Hated Nations. This list, frequently revised, is maintained by those who feel a pressing need for a national enemy and who have been bereft of a proper foe since the Soviet Union fell in on itself in a cloud of rust. Iran’s leaders, unlike several of the regimes chosen for the role of Chief Threat, seem to enjoy being feared and have encouraged their image by very publicly pursuing nuclear research, rather like a naughty boy teasingly juggling with his mother’s best china.