Back to Gideon RachmanI know it’s for my own good, but I am finding airline security-measures increasingly irritating. The endless standing in line and the constant packing and unpacking would be marginally more tolerable, if the security demands were a bit more consistent. But they vary a lot, depending on which country you happen to be passing through.
The Americans are shoe-fetishists. It is impossible to go through an American airport without being asked to take off your shoes. The British go through shoe phases - but are permanently obsessed with liquids. So at Heathrow, sometimes they ask to x-ray your shoes, and sometimes not. But they always want to take a look at your toothpaste and deoderant - the British Airports Authority have developed a nice line in selling clear plastic bags for travellers to put their toiletries in. Meanwhile at Frankfurt airport yesterday, I wasn’t asked to take off my shoes or put my liquids in a clear bag. But they did want me to take my belt off. Perhaps they were worried I might try to hang myself?
Attitudes to computers also vary. Some airports insist that you take your laptop out; the real obsessives ask you to turn it on. Others seem happy to x-ray it in the bag.
Why all this variation? It seems to depend on which plot has been aimed at which country. The fact that the failed shoe-bomber made it to the US seems to have made a lasting impression on the Americans. The plotters who were alleged to want to make bombs out of liquids came from Britain - hence our interest in toiletries.
This seems silly. First, there is a distinct stable-door aspect. It seems unlikely that the same methods will be tried twice, although I suppose you can’t risk it. Second, since airline travel is international - perhaps the various regulators could put their heads together and standardise what they are looking for. Then, at least, one could go through security on autopilot.
This blog covers a variety of topics from US foreign policy to European politics and the Middle East - and whatever else happens to be in the news or catch my attention. I joined the FT as chief foreign affairs commentator in 2006, after a 15-year career at The Economist which included stints as a correspondent in Brussels, Bangkok and Washington. I write a weekly column on foreign affairs, which appears in the paper on Tuesdays. Occasionally my FT colleagues contribute posts to this blog.
Geoff Dyer is the FT's China bureau chief. He has been a correspondent in Shanghai and in Brazil and has also covered the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries from London.
Roula Khalaf is the FT's Middle East editor. She has worked for the FT since 1995, first as North Africa correspondent, then Middle East correspondent and most recently as Middle East editor. Before joining the FT, she was a staff writer for Forbes magazine in New York. 
James Blitz is the FT's defence and diplomatic editor. He has been the FT's political editor, based in London, and Rome bureau chief. James is a former Moscow bureau chief for the Sunday Times.
Alan Beattie is the FT's world trade editor. He has previously been economics leader writer and spent two years in Washington DC as chief US economics correspondent. Before joining the FT, Alan was an economist at the Bank of England. 
Victor Mallet is the FT's Madrid correspondent. He is a former Asia editor of the FT, and, in more than 20 years at the organisation, has also worked in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In 1990 he escaped from Kuwait after being one of the few foreign correspondents there when Iraq invaded. 
Stefan Wagstyl is the FT's eastern Europe editor, co-ordinating coverage of the region. He has also been the FT's bureau chief in Tokyo and New Delhi.