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Amid severe funding cuts to Britain's defence budget and entrenched opposition to any new war, now is the time to stress the merits of diplomacy to forestall international conflict.
As I write this, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is touring America to advocate military confrontation with Iran. This is his second pro-war PR tour and the second time his request has been rejected by senior US officials.
In the meantime, Iran has proposed a new round of talks with the P5+1 (the permanent members of the UN security council, plus Germany) to move the negotiations further. Britain and the EU have a pivotal role to play in these negotiations if they revert to a rather more