The message that Joseph Biden, the US vice-president, brought to Europe this weekend was received by America’s European partners with great enthusiasm. He said what they wanted to hear: that the Obama administration intends to consult its allies, listen to their views and co-operate in finding solutions to the daunting security challenges on the global agenda – both economic and physical.

He even reached out to Russia, in spite of the truculent tone that has been adopted by Moscow in recent times, declaring it was the moment to “press the reset button” in US-Russia relations. That seemed to go down pretty well with the Russians, as well as with France’s President Sarkozy, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who came to hear the American message at the annual Munich Security Conference.