We can get inside the mindset of the characters in Shakespeare’s plays’ appreciating Hamlet’s indecision and Macbeth’s ambition. Similarly, we can understand old dramas and dilemmas in international politics. When we think of the struggle for control of the ‘Holy Land’ between Israelis and Palestinians, we might recall Francis I of France, in the early fifteenth century, when he was asked what differences accounted for the constant wars between himself and Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. He supposedly replied: ‘None whatever. We agree perfectly. We both want control of Italy. ‘Likewise, those in Europe who worry about Germany’s domination of the eurozone will understand the view of European leaders at the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648 who were determined to keep the German lands broken up in the interests of the European balance of power; and they will appreciate the remark ascribed to a French diplomat at the end of the Second World War almost exactly 300 years later, who said, ‘I love Germany so much, that’s why I want two of them. ‘Size matters in international relations.