The most important rule in the world of theater is to keep the attention of your audience. If they become distracted or bored, if they start to fidget in their seats, the illusion of the spectacle is at risk. Once word gets out that you can’t deliver as a playwright or a director, the audiences dwindle. And fewer people are interested in your next offering. North Korean leaders have always understood the importance of theater.
Pakistan may not frighten India as much as it would like.
In March 2012, the United States led a resolution calling on the government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which examined the breakdown of the truce between the country’s warring factions, and “to take all necessary additional steps” to “ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans.” But is the U.S. more interested in military cooperation than human rights?
“It’s déjà vu all over again.” The classic quote from the great American philosopher Yogi Berra, originally in reference to the home run chase between baseball greats Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961, could just as well describe the hand-wringing currently taking place from Beijing to Washington over North Korea’s planned missile launch in late 2012.
Indonesia’s Shi’a minority is under heavy attack. Men, women, and children have been assaulted, schools damaged, and villages burned to the ground. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Saudi Arabia’s intolerant brand of Wahabbi Sunni Islam—propagated far and wide by Saudi oil money—is behind most of assaults.
Even the most peaceful of religions produces violence.
It is time to bring the 21st century’s version of “the Great Game” to an end.
During hostilities, unified authority is critical.
Hate speech and exhortations to attack the Rohingya Muslim minority are pervasive in western Burma.
China’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition will have major implications for China’s neighbors in Southeast Asia. Given this, it might be worthwhile to review the changing understanding of the momentous developments in China on the part of people in our region, using my generation—the so-called “baby boomers”—as an example.