The days when George W. Bush was riding high on the world stage seem a long time ago.

This month, the US president watched from the sidelines as Finland and France worked to secure a ceasefire after the most serious Russian military action since the cold war. Last week, Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf, one of Mr Bush's most important allies in the war on terror, was jostled from office. Iran, meanwhile, is moving closer to nuclear weapons capability and a host of countries other than the US are taking the lead in promoting peace talks in the Middle East.