At the time, this pithy summary of US-European differences had the ring of truth. The Bush administration was accused of a martial unilateralism like none before it; the European Union appeared multilateralist to a fault, if not downright divided. Today, however, many observers believe that interplanetary unity is on the cards.

With Barack Obama's arrival in the White House a week today, differences between the US and Europe are likely to narrow on policies ranging from climate change to detention of terrorist suspects at the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. As a result, leaders on both sides of the Atlantic – the alliance that won the cold war and which still represents the most significant economic relationship in the world – are looking forward to working together more closely than they have for years.

All the same, Europe is about to discover yet again that America can be an uncomfortable ally. Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, warns of “a very real risk of excessive expectations”. But he adds: “There will be an eagerness in many capitals around the world for President Obama to succeed . . . because of a recognition that these extraordinary, difficult and multitudinous problems are not going to be amenable to solution unless there's mutual effort and American leadership.”