Did Dalai Lama Just Engineered His Own Endgame?
Richard Gere (CNN reports Richard Gere in Protests here) is now catching on with this media ride too! This Olympics is giving an edge to the Tibetan causes they probably have never enjoyed in the last 6 decades. If the cards are played well, not only will the Tibetan causes be brought to the next level, but also will serve as a great transition of Tibetan leadership. Of course, fighting against a resourceful state institution (like China, USA, Russia, etc) is difficult to win, even when the cards are played well. Nevertheless, Dalai Lama leveraged this moment for an important political asset: Karmapa Lama.
Karmapa Lama, age 22 and the third most important figure in the Tibetan Buddhism, is expected to visit the States in mid May 2008. India has given permission for the trip. However, pressure from China may derail it. If this trip is a go, then this is a good training opportunity for Karmapa Lama to become an interim leader before the next Dalai Lama assumes his rightful place.
If Karmapa Lama performs well in this trip, then Dalai Lama probably has engineered a good endgame for himself: using this Olympics and his probably last influence inside Tibet to maximize the media attention from the riot to the protest to introduce the next leader to the world.
