As Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, starts a planned visit to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Friday, he will talk publicly about a best practice guide for sovereign wealth funds and efforts to combat the financing of terror.

Behind closed doors, however, his posture may be slightly less self-confident. I suspect he will raise a more pressing issue: the US needs the Gulf Co-operation Council countries to finance its deficit and the resources of GCC sovereign wealth funds to flow into dollar-denominated securities – be it within the framework of best practice or not.