While news such as this would not normally make me raise an eye brow, this time around it has. In the past, the United States has been able to pretty well do what it wants to on the National Stage without concern of what other nations think of us. While we tried to place nice (most of the time) we would simply do what we thought was in our best interest. This week, the fact that our President has decided to hold off meeting with the Dalai Lama until after a certain set of meetings with China sets an interesting, and not very assuring, precedence. Even if you do not read any more into than the fact that the strength of the US is declining and the strength of China is increasing, it is still a sobering thought for those of us who have been used to the unchallenged strength of our country since the end of World War II. At worst, it begins to lay out a scenario where the US does not determine its own direction, but where it is but one country among almost 200 being corralled in the same direction by the United Nations or some future world government.