True, Alan Duncan, his closest adviser, is to Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair's, as lumpfish roe is to caviare.

ECONOMIST: Too little Hagueography

For their part, the Iranians would be happy if they were allowed to export, say, their carpets or caviare to America.

ECONOMIST: The Iranian opportunity

The government has made a few rhetorical nods to the environmental cause, for example by promising to protect the embattled sturgeon, the fish that produces caviare.

ECONOMIST: Russia

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species gave warning last summer that over-fishing had put sturgeon in danger of extinction: 90% of the world's caviare comes from the Caspian.

ECONOMIST: Fishing for gas, sturgeon and influence