EXPERT COMMENT
Having a foreign secretary with status that is largely free of domestic political concerns matters, but a lack of strategy matters more.
David Cameron's appointment as foreign secretary was a bold and surprising move by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Initial reactions focussed on the domestic connotations of Cameron's return, but the ex-premier's arrival at King Charles Street marked a changed approach to UK foreign policy.
With the newly ennobled peer free of constituency obligations and the House of Commons, Cameron has injected energy and purpose into Britain's international affairs. Nowhere has this seemed more apparent than with the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, in which Cameron has sought to play a more prominent role.
But, after years of relative disinterest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is this renewed engagement having any impact? Is it part of a wider UK strategy and does the UK still have the capacity and influence to affect the region?
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