Obama stands for ‘soft power’ – the replacement of military action in defence of his nation by talking, negotiation and compromise. But with people who have non-negotiable and unconscionable agendas – such as Iran’s genocidal intention to wipe Israel off the map and destroy the west – such an approach merely plays into their hands while catastrophically undermining more moderate regimes and allies.

And there’s a still more troubling aspect of America’s new President. For his whole career has been solidly embedded in an ultra-radical tradition which believes in revolution from the grass-roots up – and which teaches that to gain power, an activist must pose as a centrist while pursuing his real agenda of radicalising the people and revolutionising society.

Everything Obama has done, both in pursuit of the presidency and since his election, fits that programme for radical action to the letter.