Sometimes questions are so revealing. In a session in which Rupert Murdoch enjoyed riling his co-panellists with a robust defence of the US and its utility to the world, three Americans in the audience got up to put forth their queries that taken together reflect their country's bewilderment at the hectoring it has been getting from the rest of the world in recent times.

European advertising gurus Maurice Levy and Martin Sorrell had just laid out their suggestions to the next US president on “rebuilding brand America” and the discussion had been opened to the floor. The three American questions. One: said the first, I am sick of you bashing America and then holding out your hand for aid. It is disgusting, said she. Two, said another, the kind of advice being given looks to me to be an eagerness for America to be back in the game. Three, is the disenchantment with brand America or brand Bush — hopefully, once he’s out of office, that perception will change.

If America is getting conflicting feedback from the world, the panelists appeared to enjoy the combat, even when two of them were in principle on the same side of the argument. Murdoch was unequivocal. “America needs to be less shy about what a great country it is,” he said. “The generosity of America is amazing.” For instance, the lack of recognition of what has been done in aid to Africa — official and philanthropic -— is “scandalous”.

“It is very easy to overlook that for America world changed on 9/11,” he responded to criticism of its Iraq war and its aftermath. Bush, he said, is an inadequate communicator. Clinton was a good communicator, “but what did he achieve?” And, to calls for America to be more committed to multilateralism, he said: “The US does behave as a citizen of the world. Should it listen to the UN?” The UN, he said, is “a corrupt, ridiculous and dysfunctional place”.

... contd.