A pride of lions in winter? A brace of lame ducks? Or closing-time drinkers at the Last Chance Saloon? Whatever metaphor you choose, it is now twilight for many of the top leaders due to appear at next week's Apec summit in Sydney.
US President George W. Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont are all facing the end of their political careers.
For Mr Bush and Mr Roh it is a case of term limits. Mr Abe is battling to survive internal political meltdown, while Mr Howard - the great Australian political survivor - must cope with being well down in the polls ahead of his fifth successive election in November.
For Mr Surayud, his departure is part of a self-imposed restriction set by Thailand's military junta. Elections in December will bring a new civilian government to power.
Since its inception in 1989, the forum on Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation has always represented style over substance with its loose, consensus-based statements. With image to the fore, the symbolism of so many top leaders being on the way out is sure to hang heavily. Outgoing leaders means changes in relationships and policies across a region already facing shifting strategic assumptions.
Officially, the 21 leaders from across the Pacific Rim, including mainland China, Russia, Canada and even Peru, have a busy agenda during their three-day session starting on Friday. Their economies, after all, represent some 60 per cent of the world's gross domestic product and about half of all global trade.