Around the World, we may be witnessing the last throw of multiple diplomatic dice. There are decisions and events that will soon have missed their moment.Take for example the decision by a significant number of countries to officially recognize a Palestinian state. In the imaginations of most people, this would encompass the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and possibly a bit more land generously donated by Israel.

Given the advance of Israeli settlers into the former and the wanton destruction of the latter, this image is shattering before our eyes.Since its inception in 1948, each time the State of Israel has been provoked to violence, it has ended up with more territory under its control and its response to the terrible Hamas attack of October 2023 suggests that this time will be no different. With the dramatic reduction in area by force of that putative State of Palestine, it seems that this one-sided war will have a similar outcome.

By chance or design, there may soon be no credible geographical basis for Palestine, and hence this may be the last chance for such a ‘recognition’, regardless of our views and feelings.By the same analysis, President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East may also be a last throw of the dice.

By military means – or peace plan – it appears that Israel will be victorious, but with no reduction in the bitter resentment that drives its enemies. Will Gaza even continue to exist? A last chance to be seen as an effective peacemaker, but more importantly, a last chance for a Palestinian state.For Trump’s peace efforts in Ukraine, that moment seems to have already passed. There we see a new threat of aerial incursions into Denmark, Poland &c.

Analysts search for a cunning plan in the Russian dictator’s mind, while what I discern is different. I see an eight-year-old boy kicking out in bitter frustration at those who have most recently upset him, but, like that frightened boy, Putin is careful not to make contact with anyone’s shin.

Any possibility that NATO might agree to halt its eastward expansion has also evaporated with Russia’s unconscionable invasion precipitating precisely what was Putin’s worst fear. Now only total Russian victory – an increasingly unlikely outcome – will prevent Ukraine also joining the western bloc. Perhaps the moment has also passed for China to invade Taiwan. China, like an owl, watches and learns, and may not wish to get bogged down in a Ukraine-like conflict. Taiwan is way better prepared, militarily, than Ukraine was, with a vast army of trained reservists and access to the same military technology that has humbled Russia.

If that is optimistic, then it may be the attempts to get chip production moved elsewhere that have missed the boat.Back home, there is a febrile atmosphere surrounding the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, but is it really what it seems? After all, the Labour Party and its leadership have always had enemies in the national press as well as energetic internal critics. We might see the minor scandals surrounding former cabinet members as evidence of moral weakness or, on the other hand, as human frailty acted on quickly and decisively by a strong leader.

The Government, with its large Commons majority, has inherited a very difficult situation, in relation to both public services and the national economy, but its strength is that it has taken the rare opportunity to plan for the long and medium term. As (and if) this starts to show fruit, will this window for sharp criticism also close?