To argue that they have been backsliding, or reneging on their obligations, or free-riding on the goodwill of other eurozone economies is inaccurate and quite unfair.
Just beyond his tattered wood desk, a vintage Miami cruiser hangs from one of his patent-pending pedal hooks - the perfectly rusted patina on the low-riding frame is the closest thing to art on the walls.
Baker has faced far tougher moments in his career--thousands of lives were riding on his 11th-hour war-or-peace meeting in Geneva with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz in January 1991, for example--but few have been as tailor-made for Baker, whose unique skill is the ability to integrate policy and politics in one brain and make a lot of things happen quickly.