When Air Force One left the tarmac in Abu Dhabi after US President Donald Trump concluded a whirlwind four-day visit to the Gulf this month, the general consensus was that it was a major success that brought the region and the US closer than they have been for a long time.

It is too early to predict the outcome of this month’s all-important EU-UK summit, but there has already been a sea change in terms of more cordial language and a spirit of cooperation between the two sides that has buried the toxicity of the dreadful Brexit years.

There are two feelings, some might say traits, that are hard to come by when countries are in a state of war: empathy and sympathy.