U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a bilateral at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 18, 2009

This pictures is one of those 1,000 words pictures. We see Obama leaning way forward while Jiabao is leaning back.

It has caused many political bloggers and news commentators to offer criticism, in the same way when he bowed to the Japan's leader Wen last month. Many people are quick to state that the President and even the United States- as a superpower is above this type of gesture... and it shows submissiveness...

This picture is different than his bow to Wen- that was a greeting bow and in my opinion is a sign of respect.

Part of the problem is- as we've become more casual in every part of our lives, we've also became a global community where travel and different cultures have never been more intermixed- these gestures can come under criticism.

In the next twenty years our gestures will never be more consistent across borders and seas... We are just going through a transition period where we cannot rely on Ms. Manners guide to state what is currently acceptable behavior/gestures.◦

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao