It is not power but fear

"It is not Power that Corrupts, But Fear."

I'm a little bit amazed to see that the Burmese government actually released Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. The negotiations to have her released were one of those permanent stories in the press; as if one were assigned to report on the tides, without understanding the effect of the moon. "Water is up! We think this is the day!" "No, the water went back down." "Water is up again!"

If you're not accustomed to following Asian politics, you may not be familiar with her. Here is an introduction. She also is associated with an interesting speech, which is aimed at trying to alter Burma and its society in accord with what are widely perceived to be Western principles. The people who are concerned about her being a 'puppet of the West' are thinking of the kind of Westerner who works with the UN and authored things like the Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.