The 19-gun salute, the mutual compliments, military bands, eye-catching designer evening gowns, star-studded guest list and the full panoply of pomp, ceremony and formality: the White House dinner on Wednesday could mean only that a British Prime Minister was in town, as eager as his host to play up historical links, contemporary concerns and a relationship that, despite the tired cliché, remains fresh, vital and special.
Yet this time the usual necessity for a US President and a British Prime Minister to declare their mutual respect and political closeness has been demonstrably underlined by a visit that has exceeded all expectations. Those expectations were, admittedly, fairly low: the contrived bonhomie and needy insecurity that marked Gordon Brown’s fleeting encounters with President Obama gave an impression that the US President was insouciant of the relationship with Britain and less naturally inclined than his predecessors to indulge in the anglophilia of past presidencies.
It was a false impression. Mr Obama clearly found Mr Cameron a more engaging and sympathetic figure and a more self-confident political partner. As a result, the two men were relaxed, in high good humour and clearly enjoying the stir that they, their radiant wives and their strategically chosen guests created on America’s airwaves and in its gossip columns. Mr Obama declared that Britain was “one of our dearest and closest allies”, described the relationship as “rock solid” and insisted, to the bafflement of his fellow Americans, that he was “chuffed to bits” by the visit and looking forward to a “good natter”.
It is, of course, the natter that will matter. The summit has already yielded immediate and valuable results: the discussion on releasing oil stocks to stabilise global energy prices and the agreement to look again at the US-UK extradition treaty. Prime ministerial visits to Washington are all about substance. But being chuffed helps. When political leaders get on well and are sensitive to each other’s electoral needs, they can more easily resolve awkward differences and political irritations. And by lavishing attention, flattery and well-chosen gifts on Mr Cameron, Mr Obama not only refreshes an alliance so strategic to Western security and global peace, but smooths the way for tough decisions on tough issues in both capitals.
These include the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the repression in Syria and the provocative antics of an Iran bent on acquiring nuclear weapons. And on the day that Mr Cameron paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 atrocities, Mr Obama was faced with the collapse of two policies essential to allied strategy in Afghanistan, the country where al-Qaeda nurtured its terrorist plot. The Karzai Government, responding to the widespread fury at the US removal to Kuwait of the serviceman who slaughtered 16 Afghans, demanded an immediate pull-out of Nato troops from rural areas; and the Taleban broke off incipient peace talks with America.
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In both America and Britain, this complication will increase public disillusion with the entire Nato operation and add to the pressure to withdraw US and British troops before the 2014 deadline. Mr Cameron and Mr Obama have to work out, in the coming months, a strategy that responds to this pressure but refuses to be stampeded to a premature exit that effectively undercuts all the goals and achievements of the past ten years.
On Syria, the two leaders must look for ways to increase pressure on the blood-soaked Assad regime. They should, for a start, encourage and underpin a more robust policy by Moscow. Russia, too, should be included more effectively in the global attempts to combat nuclear proliferation in Iran. On all these issues, Anglo-American solidarity is vital. And that has been resoundingly bolstered by three triumphant days in Washington.