Once upon a time, U.S. President George Bush was reproached for conducting cowboy-style foreign policy. Today we have to deal with another extreme.

If President Barack Obama was to star in a cowboy movie, he would get neither the role of the cowboy, nor the villain. He would be the barman who gives clever advice at peaceful times, and in times of turbulence hides the booze under the counter. He is a good guy, but not the fighting sort.