One fruitful offshoot: They established the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Dalia Mogahed of Gallup's Centre for Muslim Studies argues that because American Muslims are so well integrated, they strongly reject terrorism.

ECONOMIST: The tensions of being Muslim and American

As for Congress, Ralph Cossa, at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Honolulu, argues for restraint there, to avoid feeding anti-American sentiment in China and playing into the hands of hardliners.

ECONOMIST: The Olympics

Studies into the gel by the American Population Council's centre for Biological Research are being funded by the foundation set up by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

BBC: Seaweed gel could protect against HIV