If Mr Gonzales passes muster with Congress, Mr Bush will earn a feather in his cap for appointing the first Latino attorney-general, a Mexican American.
It would be a feather in the Russians' cap if they could persuade Mr Milosevic to come to terms, and the West would be happy to let them take the credit.
Perhaps the toughest public-relations exercise for Mr Prodi will be to persuade jaded Europeans that this new commission will be less feather-bedded than the last.