Watching Homeland last night, the US president was twice referred to as the "leader of the free world". It's not the first time that I've encountered this phrase, so it made me wonder: do Americans genuinely believe that? Although he's the leader of the most powerful economy in the supposed free world, that doesn't make him the leader of every other nation. I'm sure the French would have something to say about it for starters.

I'll admit that Tony Blair's frankly sickening obeisance towards GWB probably made most people assume that the UK is indeed the 51st state, but I certainly don't recall ever getting to vote on your prez.