Nato summit: judgment day for 'Dick Swiveller' Cameron

Cameron and Obama have a lot of persuading to do as the West faces IS and Ukraine crises

Robert Fox

Increasingly Barack Obama sounds as if he is auditioning for the role of Hamlet the Dane, prince of procrastinators. As he arrived in Newport for Nato’s 65th major summit, he still seemed undecided about what exactly to do about Ukraine, the Islamic State and the future of the Nato alliance.

Like Hamlet, he ruminates and philosophises a lot, all with the expressed intent of “not doing stupid stuff”, which at times looks like reluctance to do stuff at all. Today we have news from Fox News - make of it what you will - that the US President received detailed briefings from the Pentagon about the true nature and power of IS over a year ago, yet feigned ignorance over this until Mosul fell this summer.

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is a writer on Western defence issues and Italian current affairs. He has worked for the Corriere della Sera in Milan, covered the Falklands invasion for BBC Radio, and worked as defence correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. His books include The Inner Sea: the Mediterranean and its People.