It also creates an opportunity for a compromise: With Germany and Luxembourg ostensibly locking horns, another European nation could now act as a mediator to facilitate an agreement.

FORBES: Tax Havens

Lagarde was able to exercise more autonomy on the international stage, where she used the global experience of her Baker years to act as a mediator during the European debt crisis.

FORBES: Page 2 of 3

The leader of Bahrain's main opposition party has called on the UK government to act as a mediator with the ruling al-Khalifa family if progress towards democracy remains stalled in the troubled Gulf state.

BBC: Bahrain opposition seeks UK support as tension simmers