The news that France is to send troops and equipment to Saudi Arabia to defend the strategically important oil port of Yanbu followed a little noticed but, in hindsight, rather important mini-summit that took place this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The occasion was a joint ministerial meeting on Tuesday between the Gulf Cooperation Council and France, attended by all six GCC foreign ministers, including Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud. Inevitably,
