Islam analysis: will the US deliver on its promises?

In addition, the United States is in a unique position to leverage diaspora populations from the Muslim world to engage constructively with communities at home.

Finally, science diplomacy initiatives must be housed somewhere that has credibility within the Islamic world (i.e. not too closely linked with the US government's political agenda), and implemented through mechanisms as close to the market as possible, but also through organisations with high scientific credibility.

In addition, Congress must back the Obama science initiative with serious money. And that money must come with no strings attached, even if it demands a degree of co-financing.

Above all, the scientific and practical benefits of engagement - appropriately publicised - will need to be compelling if they are to deliver a "diplomacy premium".

Will Obama deliver?

As John Boright, the Director of International Programmes at the US National Academies, notes, successful science diplomacy programs must "be about science rather than be political". Science must take centre stage in science diplomacy - not the other way round.

However, science and diplomacy may not always fit easily together. Science collaboration initiatives, unless specifically created to influence public opinion, may involve too narrow a set of constituents to make a discernable impact on public perceptions.

So with his popularity plummeting at home, can Obama deliver? Cathleen Campbell, chief executive officer of CRDF Global (the Civilian Research and Development Foundation) in Washington DC, thinks bipartisan support for "initiatives that promote economic growth, achieve collateral security benefits, and improve relations" exists on Capitol Hill.

Others are less optimistic, given the prospects of Republican gains in November's mid-term Congressional elections.

Should political and financial support for Obama's Cairo commitment dry up, it would be difficult for Washington to create this great scientific dream of our times on a shoestring budget. And the United States risks a backlash if it ends up inviting its hospitable Muslim hosts to a feast, and then asking them to foot the bill.