Kuala Lampur, Feb. 1 -- When I saw children welcoming Anthony Albanese during his recent visit to Timor-Leste, smiling, performing, offering gestures of warmth, the scene felt instantly familiar.

Comforting, even. It was visually pleasing, emotionally disarming, and entirely predictable.

That familiarity is precisely the point.

What often appears as a simple cultural welcome is one of the most enduring rituals of international diplomacy.

Across political systems and regions, children have become a preferred visual language through which states signal peace, legitimacy, and goodwill.

These moments are rarely spontaneous. They are carefully staged because they work.

Children carry meanings that formal diplomacy cannot easily convey. T...