Diplomatic Body Language

Amusing: Who's Cool at G-8 Meeting? It's All in Bush's Gestures

The big handshake between the trans-Atlantic odd couple, President Bush and President Jacques Chirac of France, finally happened here this hot and muggy Sunday afternoon on the shores of Lake Geneva. It was, in the end, both a dramatic letdown and a diplomatic success: decorous, accompanied by polite chatter, but with no glimpse into the feelings of two emotional men.

What was far more telling was watching Mr. Bush on a flower-filled terrace of the 19th-century Hôtel Royal — as Mr. Chirac stayed by his side — working the room of fellow global power brokers.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, who supported Mr. Bush on Iraq, got a big neck squeeze. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, who in late May spent two hours lounging around the pool with Mr. Bush at his Texas ranch (and who supported him on Iraq), got an arm around the back. Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the president's closest ally on Iraq, got a swinging handshake, as if he were one of Mr. Bush's Yale fraternity brothers.

And this is especially amusing:

The reporter persisted, "You know it's customary to kiss on both cheeks, right?"

"That's only if you are French, I think," the official replied. "We don't do that in the United States. In Texas they don't do that."