President Hosni Mubarak’s first visit to Washington in five years is being presented as the rekindling of a warm relationship chilled by the Middle East adventurism of the Bush administration – by both sides, but especially by Egypt.

While it is true that Cairo’s intermediation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains valuable, that cannot hide the fall-off in Egypt’s ability to exert a positive influence on regional affairs. Egypt is no longer really punching its weight in the Arab world.