Maureen Dowwd, referring to Obama as "First Shrink", draws an interesting contrast between him and his predecessor on their diplomatic sensibilities:

"...Bush and his inner circle were extraordinarily obtuse about reading the motivations and the intentions of friends and foes.

How could it never occur to them that Saddam Hussein might simply be bluffing about the size of his W.M.D. arsenal to keep the Iranians and other antagonists at bay?

W. bristled at French and German leaders because he thought they were condescending to him. He thought he saw into Vladimir Putin's soul until the Russian leader showed his totalitarian stripes.

W. and Condi were so clueless about the mind-set of Palestinians that Condi was blindsided by the Hamas victory in 2006, learning the news from TV as she did the elliptical at 5 a.m. in the gym of her Watergate apartment.

The Bush chuckleheads misread the world and insisted that everyone else go along with their deluded perception, and they bullied the world and got huffy if the world didn't quickly fall in line.

President Obama, by contrast, employed smart psychology in the global club, even on small things, like asking other leaders if they wanted to start talking first at news conferences.

With Anglo-American capitalism on trial and Gordon Brown floundering in the polls, Mr. Obama took pains to drape an arm around "Gordon" and return to using the phrase "special relationship." He gave a shout-out to the Brown kids, saying he'd talked dinosaurs with them. He won points with a prickly Sarkozy when he intervened in an argument about tax havens between the French and Chinese leaders, pulling them into a corner to help them "get this all in some kind of perspective" and find a middle ground. Mr. Obama also played to the ego of the Napoleonic French leader, saying at their press conference, "He's courageous on so many fronts, it's hard to keep up."

Soon Sarko was back gushing over his charmant Americain ami.

Having an Iowa-style town hall in Strasbourg with enthusiastic French and German students was a clever ploy to underscore his popularity on the world stage, and put European leaders on notice that many of their constituents are also his.

Like a good shrink, the president listens; it's a way of flattering his subjects and sussing them out without having to fathom what's in their soul. "It is easy to talk to him," Dmitri Medvedev said after their meeting. "He can listen." The Russian president called the American one "my new comrade."

Mr. Obama, the least silly of men, was even willing to mug for a silly Facebook-ready picture, grinning and giving a thumbs-up with Medvedev and a goofy-looking Silvio Berlusconi.

Now that America can't put everyone under its thumb, a thumbs-up and a killer smile can go a long way...."