Last week's tour of five countries by the EU's three leading foreign policy officials was unusually hectic, leaving Brussels on Monday evening and returning on Friday afternoon. But the trip was unusual in other ways too, resembling a multiple courtship exercise rather than a conventional diplomatic initiative.
"This is like giving flowers to a beautiful woman", is how one senior official described it. Another summed up the exercise simply as "loving them to bits".
But as we flew from Pakistan to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria, it was difficult to imagine a less alluring quintet than the rulers of those unfortunate countries.
Chris Patten, Javier Solana and Belgium's Foreign Minister, Louis Michel, were impressed by Pakistan's President, Gen Pervez Musharraf - described by one of the trio as "a thinking soldier". He is also, of course, a dictator who seized power in a military coup two years ago. But the EU is confident that the general will keep his promise to hold elections next year and is preparing to sign a co-operation agreement with Pakistan on the basis of that hope.
In Tehran, while President Ali Khatami treated the EU delegation to a lengthy treatise on Machiavelli, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameini, was telling army veterans that his country would not help a US operation in Afghanistan in any way. And as the Europeans drove to the airport after their meeting, their confidence in Iran's bona fides in the fight against terrorism was challenged by a giant wall painting proclaiming "Death to the USA", with streaks of blood forming the stripes of the US flag.
The meeting in Riyadh, which took place a couple of miles from an execution ground, was relatively relaxed, despite Saudi Arabia's concerns about the West's new-found allies in Afghanistan, the United Front (formerly known as the Northern Alliance).
Security was tightest in Egypt, where President Mubarak's regime last month displayed the extent of its commitment to individual liberty by sentencing a 15- year-old boy to three years hard labour for being gay.
In Syria, where the hand of Israel is visible in every human misfortune, a cultivated party official entertained the Europeans at dinner with an account of her scholarly work on Shelley before asking if they thought Israeli Intelligence officers might have been responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington.
It is tempting to sneer at the "soft diplomacy" of the EU's mission but the delegation may have achieved much in reassuring Muslim countries that Europe will not allow the campaign against terrorism to become a clash of civilisations.
The EU's capacity to speak with one voice on foreign policy issues may also serve to strengthen the hand of those in Washington who want to limit the scope of any military response to the attacks and to focus on diplomacy, intelligence and police co-operation.
Most EU officials believe that the EU should have one foreign policy representative rather than three but Europe is fortunate in the personalities of Mr Solana, Mr Patten and Mr Michel.
Mr Solana is cautious, reticent and most comfortable negotiating deals away from the public spotlight. Mr Patten is urbane, charming and fearless when it comes to advancing Europe's moral position in public. Mr Michel, a pipe-smoking intellectual, is an idealist who relishes robust political exchanges and has a clear vision of the future of European foreign policy.
The difficulties faced by the three men were highlighted dramatically when Mr Silvio Berlusconi made his notorious outburst about the "superiority" of Western civilisation over the Islamic world.
Although the EU has a common foreign policy, important differences remain between the 15 member-states. Even among the four non-NATO member-states, the response to last month's attacks has been far from uniform.
Like Ireland, Sweden was quick to offer unequivocal support to the US and the attacks have even sparked a debate about the future of Swedish neutrality.
Finland has been more cautious, insisting that EU support for the US did not amount to a green light for full-scale war and agonising over whether US warplanes should be allowed to use Finnish airspace.
Although Austria's political establishment is fully supportive of the US, an articulate anti-war campaign has been led by the country's popular, right-wing press.
