Yo, Brown. It is just not possible to imagine George W Bush greeting Gordon Brown in the jovially familiar, yet superior, tone he once famously adopted when addressing Tony Blair, the Prime Minister's predecessor. Mr Blair was very much the junior partner in the special relationship as it was then. Time alone dictates that Mr Brown, who arrived at the Camp David retreat in Maryland last night, will not enjoy - if that is the appropriate verb - the same relationship with Mr Bush. The latter's discredited presidency, with only some 18 months to run, is entering its dog days.

Much has been made of Mr Brown distancing himself from Mr Bush and America. He has little to lose, and much potentially to gain, from being less close to the individual. But he is an admirer of the US and is keenly aware there are dangers in distancing himself from the country. America is too powerful to ignore. As David Miliband, Mr Brown's Foreign Secretary, put it in a recent article, the US is Britain's most important bilateral partner not just because of shared values, but also because of political reality. America is the world's largest economy and has the greatest capacity to do good of any country in the world, Miliband wrote.

The trouble is, there has been little evidence of that capability being translated into positive action on the world stage during Mr Bush's two terms. Indeed, intervention in Iraq, the defining policy of his presidency, has had a deleterious impact globally, damaging Britain, his ally in the folly of invasion and its aftermath, in the process. What can Mr Brown do about that? He has spoken of a new stage and there are signs he wants to withdraw British troops as soon as possible, provided the Iraqis can demonstrate they are capable of taking responsibility for security.

Being able to do so still seems some way off, and it is unlikely there will be detail to emerge from the Camp David talks on the withdrawal of British troops. Regardless of whether he calls a snap General Election to exploit his bounce in the opinion polls, Mr Brown plans to be around much longer than Mr Bush. He can afford to keep a little distance. He would do his reputation, and that of Britain, no harm by adopting a more candid and critical approach. The special relationship has withstood worse. Mr Brown must look to putting it on a more positive footing for Britain and the international community in its next, post-Bush phase.