Diary – 19 January 2013
Back from the Kingdom and the Gulf, where I’m delighted to find Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona) who never fails to disappoint. Opening his remarks at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, he quipped that he had come from the US where support for Congress had now reached a point where only paid staffers and blood relatives of Congressmen and Senators gave a favourable rating to their legislators. McCain said that he wanted to find someone who had given Congress a favourable rating, asking him or her just what they favoured. Bahrain is the final destination in a journey through Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States which is a mixture of business and strategic interest.