During the recent shutdown, our pouty president refused to go to the APEC conference, citing the shutdown, and sent John Kerry instead. This was to teach us a lesson.
The lesson actually learned is that Asia can go right along without us. Note John Kerr's relative position in this group photo compared to Putin, who is front and center in the green shirt. If he was any more front and center, he'd be the leader of Indonesia.
That picture speaks volumes