Mr Khalilzad was a founder member of the now ailing neo-con Project for the New American Century, and signed its 1998 letter that called on President Bill Clinton to topple Saddam Hussein.
It has never been hard to see the shortcomings, and at times the absurdities, of the neo-Hellenic project: the revival of classical glories in the shape of a smallish modern state whose people have by turns been inspired and depressed by their awesome heritage.