When Robert Gates turned up in Germany the other day to admonish America’s allies for their uneven contributions to the war in Afghanistan, everybody who is anybody in defence and security sat in the audience. Well, almost.

The Munich security conference at which the US defence secretary spoke has become the gathering for the security elite. Last year Vladimir Putin topped the bill. This year Mr Gates was joined by the prime minister of Turkey and more than two dozen foreign and defence ministers. Japan’s foreign minister thought it worth the 6,000-mile trip.