Learning on the job.

For all his shortfalls in experience, I do think President Obama is fast on the uptake -- a quick learner. So I'm wondering what exactly he took from his visit to China.

By Helene Cooper, NYTimes

BEIJING -- In six hours of meetings, at two dinners and during a stilted 30-minute news conference in which Presidenet Hu Jintao did not allow questions, President Obama was confronted, on his first visit, with a fast-rising China more willing to say no to the United States.

With China's micro-management of Mr. Obama's appearances in the country, the trip did more to showcase China's ability to push back against outside pressure than it did to advance the main issues on Mr. Obama's agenda, analysts said.
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White House officials maintained they got what they came for -- the beginning of a needed give-and-take with a surging economic giant. With a civilization as ancient as China's, they argued, it would be counterproductive -- and reminiscent of President George W. Bush's style -- for Mr. Obama to confront Beijing with loud chest-beating that might alientate the Chinese. Mr. Obama, the officials insisted, had made his points during private meetings and one-on-one sessions.

“I do not expect, and I can speak authoritatively for the president on this, that we thought the waters would part and everything would change over the course of our almost two-and-a-half-day trip to China,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. “We understand there’s a lot of work to do and that we’ll continue to work hard at making more progress.”

If he took anything from the Chinese example of how a leader with power stands firm in the interests of his country, bully for the president. He's going to need those skills very soon, it seems.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel triggered a fresh rift with Washington over settlement building on Tuesday by approving the building of 900 homes for Jews on West Bank land it occupied in a 1967 war and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality.
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"At a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. ...

The United States objected to the continued evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.
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Israel rejects the international description of Gilo as a settlement and says it is a neighborhood of Jerusalem, the city it claims as its capital. Some 500,000 Jews live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, also captured in 1967, among 2.7 million Palestinians.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 war, a move that was not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said Israel's decision was a further step "intended to prevent the Palestinian state from happening."
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[A]n aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel's move "destroys the last chances for the peace process."

Too bad in the long run for all parties, such unilateral actions in the face of the human numbers.

Keep hope alive for a strong leader to emerge, one who understands that peace is conceived, and a new world created, only where there is a credible promise of "justice for all" ...

Powerful leadership by firm example? Only time will tell who's got the upper hand in these international games.