Upon receiving the news that the British embassy in Tehran had been stormed, its windows smashed, and the Union Jack ignominiously burned and replaced with an Iranian counterpart, a question popped into my mind: What would Lord Palmerston do?
Henry John Temple â?? more commonly known to posterity as the 3rd Viscount Palmerston, or simply â??Pamâ? â?? was notoriously intolerant of any action abroad that threatened British interests, or even individual British subjects. As both foreign secretary and prime minister, Palmerston readily eschewed diplomatic niceties, preferring, in Winston Churchillâ??s famous phrase, â??to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.â?
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