To understand the Dalai Lama his culture in his lifetime went from around 1000 years ago to the present

 And not only that it is not at all like ANY western culture in most ways.

Here is a horrifying example. I read a book called "Into Tibet" which describes the first CIA agent to die in the line of fire. So, when he came into Tibet from China while escaping the Red Communist Chinese army chasing him, the man sent to meet him misunderstood that he was supposed to be bringing the CIA agent alive to the seat of Government run then by Ling Rinpoche (I think this was around 1950 or so), but the way this man interpreted his duty was to bring the head of the CIA agent coming into Tibet instead.

This gives you just how different the culture in Tibet was even in 1950 or 1960 when the Dalai Lama at age 18 escaped the Red Chinese and was given Refuge in India of March 1959.

Though the Dalai Lama even as a child loved things like movies from the western world, 99% of the people in Tibet had never seen a movie, didn't know how to read or write and were a lot like they all were 1000 years ago in many many ways.

So, you have a Spiritual Leader (in many ways like the Pope is to the Catholic Church) if the Pope like in ancient times was ahead of a country or maybe Europe itself as a political as well as religious leader.

I'm not sure how many Western People (North America, South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other western nations) understand just how different Tibet was from the rest of the world until it was invaded with planes and tanks and Armies from China.

Another fact people might not realize is that Lhasa, The Capitol of Tibet is at 12,000 feet and a friend from Church in the 1980s went there because it was  a life long dream of hers to go to Tibet and she was in her early 70s. The problem was she died from the altitude within 15 minutes of arriving at 12,000 feet  in Lhasa by plane. The 12,000 feet altitude simply killed her within 15 minutes at her age.

Some of these things might help people to understand just how remote and away from the world that Tibet actually always was. No one attacked Tibet before China because until there were Tanks and planes armies all died trying to walk there. They simply froze to death and starved to death trying to get to Tibet to Attack it because you have to walk over 20,000 foot passes to get there from India and through Nepal. And one reason I didn't go into Tibet when I was in Nepal in 1985 and 1986 was that a friend of mine went on a bus to Lhasa and saw first hand a bus load of people dead at the top of a 20,000 foot pass on the road to Lhasa from Katmandu, Nepal over the Himalayas. I didn't want my family to die on that bus ride because I was traveling with my wife and children then for 4 to 5 months through India, Nepal, Thailand and Japan.

This is why Tibet Stayed similar to being 1000 years ago into the 20th Century until the Dalai Lama had to escape the Red Communist Chinese Army in 1959 when the Dalai Lama was 18 years old. Because any army wanting to attack Tibet died just trying to get there before the Chinese invaded Tibet with Tanks and planes.

Note:

Why did a whole busload of people die at 20,000 feet in a pass on a road over the Himalayas to Lhasa Tibet from Katmandu, Nepal?

The bus broke down because of the altitude. The people couldn't breathe enough and then froze to death. Then all their bodies and bus stayed there because of superstitions and how difficult it would be to retrieve any of them. So, they stayed like this a long time and I don't know what eventually happened to the bus and all the dead people there. You try breathing at 20,000 feet and unless you have oxygen tanks  to breathe from you really can't do anything. Even mountain climbers often die at 20,000 feet without oxygen cannisters!