It is a disarming scent, seemingly innocent at first and then blossoming into confident glamour with notes of jasmine and cedar.

WSJ: Purple Reign: Iris Fragrances

First take a saunter around the blossoming, waterfall-studded gardens of the Emirates Heritage Village down on the Breakwater, where you will find evidence of an older era Abu Dhabi, complete with Bedouin encampment, mosque and a re-creation of a traditional souq.

BBC: Stopover in Abu Dhabi

Whereas Mr Stora's points of reference for the war are usually French and often cultural (he notes the blossoming of French cinema and the opening of the first supermarkets), Mr Wall's are international and geopolitical.

ECONOMIST: Algeria then and now