Sparks: Same but different: how Xi and China welcomed Trump and Putin

The carefully orchestrated welcome, like all busyness, distracts from the essential question of what duties are owed to one's own people.

When foreign powers receive identical ceremonial honors from a republic, the distinctions of character and merit that constitute true statesmanship are the first casualty.

If the ritual welcomes for a man of order and a man of chaos are the same, then the name 'ritual' has lost its meaning.

That a republic should stage-manage its diplomacy to flatter the vanity of strongmen reveals a foundational principle subverted.

The effectual truth of hosting rivals consecutively is to demonstrate mastery over both without committing to either.

An infinite universe contains infinite centers of power, each demanding its own unique obeisance, not a single choreographed ritual.

Before we dismiss the diplomatic ritual as mere theater, we must first understand why such a fence was built in the first place.

Things that are elegant: the precise calibration of a slight, the subtle shading of an honor, the art of being seen to make a distinction.

In Delhi the Sultan demands abasement, in Fez the Emir prefers debate, but in this court both strongmen receive an identical polished welcome.

To understand the true nature of this hospitality, one must experience it not from the podium but from the receiving end.