But it is the next man in the White House who counts in Middle Eastern diplomacy and not Mr Sarkozy or his Union.

BBC: Sarkozy's plan: Showy or astute?

Reducing America's petrol consumption by 20% by 2017, a target he announced in the state-of-the-union address, would certainly diminish the country's dependence on Middle Eastern oil, but the way he plans to go about it may not be either efficient or clean.

ECONOMIST: Climate change

Although often mocked in Brussels as a mediocrity, Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign-policy chief, finds herself at the heart of Middle Eastern mediation.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

While there, he reported on many of the decade's major international stories in Eastern Europe, Northern and Western Africa, the Middle East, the Philippines, Japan and the Soviet Union.

CNN: CNN Profiles - Jim Bittermann - Senior European Correspondent

Shipments grew 1.4 percent in the company's region that encompasses Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but fell about 10 percent in both Asia and the European Union.

NPR: Philip Morris Int'l 1Q Profit Falls Nearly 2 Pct