The Dalai Lama as political institution is both powerful and vulnerable: powerful because political authority is supported by religious devotion; vulnerable because it is at odds with the political realities of Tibetans today. The Dalai Lama himself has suggested the institution may have outlived its usefuleness.
Isabel Hilton
has written extensively on China and Tibet. She is the editor of the online journal openDemocracy and a former member of the Eurozine Advisory Board.
