During Clinton’s visit, there were some disturbing developments as well. By the time the conditions were ripe for “nearly perfect” public diplomacy, the Turkish media was forced to focus on another issue, which unfortunately made Clinton’s “smiles” and “blue-pant suit” of secondary importance.

The mood of the Arab public shifts easily, and beliefs such as that China sells inferior merchandise to Arab countries, or is stealing Middle Eastern oil, have greatly affected the way local people think about China.

Foreign military interventions seldom run a smooth course; they have been particularly messy, if not counterproductive, in the vast swathe of lands stretching from the Maghreb to Indonesia.

As international forces launched attacks against Libya on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton struck a tone highly unusual in the annals of American military interventions: humility.

President Barack Obama was not in Washington when the first missiles struck targets in Libya. As the US went to war at the weekend – the third on his watch – he left for Brazil to discuss trade.

An African Union committee is meeting this week to consider a proposal by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to transform the AU bureaucracy into a powerful continental authority. The eccentric Libyan leader still casts a long shadow over African affairs, even as his 42-year rule is under threat at home.

But like other pro-Qaddafi groups that have sprung up here since the rebellion in Libya began, what it lacks in logistics it makes up in loyalty. “We’re all ready to die for him,” Mr. Maiga said. “He’s done so much for us, after all.”

Libya’s warring sides opened a new and critical front in the deepening conflict there. Muammar Qaddafi and rebels trying to oust him sent envoys to European capitals to sway the debate over potential international military involvement in Libya, a day ahead of a European Union summit that could well determine the future of the crisis.