Does Barack Obama give a damn about Europe?

At the Copenhagen summit on climate change, European leaders expected to have a big say, having led the way on environmental legislation. Instead they were left out of the room while Obama cut a deal with China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

The most recent recipients of the Obama brush-off were the Spanish, who were curtly informed that Obama would not be attending the annual European Union-US summit in Madrid in May, something Bush did. When Jose Luis Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister, came to Washington after the cancellation, he was not even granted a private meeting with the president or vice-president. His only encounter with Obama was at the national prayer breakfast, an event attended by thousands…

Not all is yet lost for European leaders eager to be Obama’s friend. Asmus points out that when Obama became a senator he asked to be on the subcommittee on Nato and Europe. “When he gets fed up with being rebuffed by China I think he’ll come back to Europe,” he said. “If he hasn’t made a major speech on Europe by Christmas, then we have a problem.”