One often wonders how world politics and international relations hinge on world leaders’ likes and dislikes for one another. Is personal chemistry a key ingredient of diplomacy and therefore a condition for a closer friendship between nations? Some recent examples seem to suggest this to be the case:

Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher’s personal friendship put the “special transatlantic relationship” back on the rails. Meanwhile, on the other side of the channel, Mitterand and Kohl holding hands at a remembrance ceremony certainly strengthened the Franco-German axis on which the European Union so heavily relied.

Sometimes it is just a matter of linguistics. Tony Blair’s impressive speech in perfect French to the Assemblée in 1998 bought him and his newly formed government a lot of credit and prestige with the French center right. Needless to say not all world leaders are polyglots and especially in the linguistic melting pot that is Europe, a severe case of monolinguism can be a true stumbling block. After all, when forging true and lasting alliances, a travelling army of interpreters only goes so far.  

The fact that English is turning into the undisputable lingua franca of international diplomacy, does not go down well in southern Europe. The Spanish in particular have a reputation for being lousy English speakers and their leaders are no exception. This lead Simon Perez to quip, during a visit of Spain's former prime minister, that “the improvement in Aznar’s English, meant the world was on the mend after all”.