For Bush, revenge is a dish best served cold. - Guardian

Next month's meeting of world leaders in Washington to discuss the future of the world's financial system will gather leaders from the world's leading and emerging economies. Only one country will be notable by its absence: Spain.

Despite prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's pleas, the United States has decided not to extend an invitation to the world's eighth largest economy and home to two of the world's top 16 banks. It is evident that Spain has enough economic credentials to attend the summit – both the EU and Gordon Brown have even argued for its inclusion, to no avail.

The reason is that Zapatero consistently overlooked the high political price he would pay for his indulgent anti-American approach to international politics. His decision t0 pull out of Iraq in 2004, a radical shift from the foreign policy of his predecessor, José María Aznar, earned him the manifest hostility of the US president. George Bush has not travelled to Spain since; nor has he invited his Spanish counterpart to visit the US. In fact, he has even refused to meet with him officially when they have crossed paths at international summits.