President George W. Bush sets off today for his farewell Nato summit and a final heads-of-state meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin in a bid to salvage a foreign policy frayed by the Iraq war.
Seeking to reassert himself on the world stage in the twilight of his term, Mr Bush will press Nato for more troops in Afghanistan, try to keep up momentum in the alliance's eastward expansion and attempt to ease strains with Russia.
But with Mr Bush even more unpopular overseas than at home, he could have a hard time swaying world leaders at this week's Bucharest summit as they look to whomever will succeed him in January 2009.
Mr Bush's first stop will be Ukraine, where he will try to reassure Kiev's reform-minded government over its aspirations for Nato membership but offer no firm guarantees.
European partners are wary of letting Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance because of opposition from Moscow, which sees it as encroachment on the former Soviet sphere of influence.
Mr Bush backs their bids for a roadmap for membership but may not have enough clout to overcome French and German misgivings at the summit. Another source of friction is Nato's role in the war in Afghanistan. Mr Bush wants a greater commitment from Nato partners reluctant to send troops to areas of heavy combat against a resurgent Taliban.
A French offer of more forces has helped ease the dispute but it remains unresolved. After the Nato summit, Mr Bush will fly to Russia for a final round of talks with Mr Putin before he steps down as Russian president in May.
There has been speculation the two leaders will try to seal a compromise on a planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe that Russia sees as a threat but which Washington insists is to deter countries like Iran that it considers "rogue states".