DELHI, India — During his U.S. presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that he would be prepared to meet with so-called rogue rulers like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran or Kim Jong Il of North Korea in the interests of peace.

Now in power, he apparently has realized that there are bigger issues at stake, so no such meetings have yet taken place, and even a chance encounter and book present from Venezuela's Hugo Chavez caused consternation. Yes, one can understand that the United States does not want to give the rogues a propaganda coup without being assured of something substantial in return.

Does this mean that cruel realpolitik has completely taken over the White House? Obama this month snubbed someone who is undoubtedly a man of peace and nonviolence in the interests of currying favor with a totalitarian state. The snub was the greater since the man of peace had met every American president since 1991 and is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize — the Dalai Lama.