World leaders are asking themselves if they should attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Political considerations aside, I don’t think there would be one person on this planet who would not want to attend the opening ceremony.

Political leaders have their own personal beliefs and have to consider what their voting populations will think of them attending. They also have to think about their future business and political futures with China. It is going to be interesting to see the seating arrangements!

Here is a list of world leaders who are attending:

U.S. President - George Bush
French President - Nicolas Sarkozy
Australian Prime Minister - Kevin Rudd
Russian Prime Minister - Vladimir Putin
Sudan President - Omar Hasan al-Bashir
Zimbabwe President- Robert Mugabe
North Korea - Kim Jong Il
Chairman of Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party - Wu Poh-hsiung,

Not attending:

Canadian Prime Minister - Stephen Harper
British Prime Minister - Gordon Brown (closing ceremony only)
German Chancellor - Angela Merkel (on vacation)
President of the European Parliament - Hans-Gert Poettering