President Barack Obama’s first call to a foreign leader was to Mahmoud Abbas, the beleaguered Palestinian president. His first interview, on Monday, was with Al Arabiya, a Dubai-based Arabic satellite television station. A new tone has entered American policy towards the Middle East. Not before time.

It is hard to exaggerate the importance of this, after a Bush administration that thought public diplomacy was a bolt-on that could be supplied by Madison Avenue, which would rebrand America and win back market share from the jihadis.