Although an ordered environment was needed to conduct international relations, what we had instead was "an apparently endless succession of conflicts" with no evidence of a capacity to deal with them, the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, has said.
Speaking in Buenos Aires yesterday, Mr Spring said that too often we responded to these crises instead of anticipating them. "There is a need for all of us to step back and take stock of where we stand in the light of changing global circumstances", he added, writes Maol Muire Tynan, Political Reporter.