How long do Syrian families have to live in fear that their children will be killed or tortured, before the Security Council will act? How many people need to die before the consciences of world capitals are stirred?

The EU is not a country and it's not going to become a country, in my view, now or ever in the future. It is a group of countries working together.

I know people are fickle.

One day I will go back to my books and piano, but not yet.

It makes life very simple actually. You could be giving a TV interview in howling gale and it no longer matters.

Governments that block the aspirations of their people, that steal or are corrupt, that oppress and torture or that deny freedom of expression and human rights should bear in mind that they will find it increasingly hard to escape the judgement of their own people, or where warranted, the reach of international law.

I have always thought that foreign-policy idealism has to be tempered with realism.