In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

In early 1992, toward the end of the administration of President Corazon Aquino, I participated in a Cabinet meeting where the discussion focused on her administration’s achievements and failings. Discussion was lively, and at times heated. There was much detailed argumentation on vision, strategy, programs, policy reforms, and delivery. President Aquino, as was her wont, listened patiently to the arguments, interjecting comments only occasionally and briefly.

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“In 2001, when foreign militaries – including the American, Belgian, British, Canadian, Danish, German, Italian, and Turkish – entered the country, Afghans welcomed them warmly, strewing flowers as they passed through towns and villages. There was widespread hope that the country would finally see peace and stability after decades of war.

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Historically, the idea of piracy carries with it a romantic image of sailing ships, handsome swashbucklers like Errol Flynn, and Jolly Roger flags. But in recent years maritime piracy has become a security problem of substantial proportions. Attacks of late have most notably occurred off the Coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, where more than half of the world’s 293 pirate attacks took place in 2008. Trends indicate that pirate attacks will increase given Somali pirates ability to range further out to sea and the Somali government’s inability to counter these threats; the most notable of these attacks occurring in April when an American captain of a cargo ship was taken hostage by Somali pirates 350 miles off the country’s coastline.

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Sitting in the small but breezy Local Peace Committee (LPC) office in Nepal’s Rolpa district, LPC Coordinator and Maoist leader Rishi Ram Roka Magar pauses when we ask him if he fears that Nepal is heading toward another war. He contemplates the question with a somber face for a few tense moments, and then his face softens into a smile so large that for a moment he resembles the Cheshire Cat. He tells us that Nepalis from opposite sides of the conflict lines have been working together for the past several years, and people who are interacting with each other through peaceful means are far less likely to fight each other. In his view, the post-war period has enabled Nepalis to become much more aware of the costs of war and the benefits of peace. Now the priorities of the people in Rolpa district are to rebuild and to focus on development and coexistence. “This is coming from somebody who held weapons during the war,” he tells us. “There should be no politics in development.”

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In Afghanistan, a land where complexity drives everything, understanding its dynamics well enough to explain them to foreigners is an extraordinary challenge. The approximately dozen, permanent, Kabul-based foreign correspondents who have remained dedicated to Afghanistan reporting are fascinating storytellers and efficient analysts. When I served in the public affairs office of the U.S. Embassy in 2004, my colleagues and I often met with them not so they could interview us, but so we could interview them to better understand the situations intangible to us from within the embassy compound.

Unfortunately, on a recent return trip to Kabul, I found that despite the renewed attention on Afghanistan from President Obama, the foreign press corps based in Kabul remains undersized and over-stretched.

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Whether you want to date it back to the year Malaya gained independence (1957) or the year the Federation of Malaysia was formed (1963), Malaysia is still a young country. And, not only is the country young, but its people are young. Official demographic figures (as of December 2008) say almost 32 percent of the population is under 14 years old, while about 63 percent are 15-63 years old. The median age for Malaysians is 24.6 years.

These figures emphasize just how crucial it is to find out what makes young Malaysians tick. Certainly the performance of certain political parties or the popularity of certain causes has been attributed to the “youth factor.” But just how well are young Malaysians understood? Numerous motivations have been ascribed to them, but just like any other demographic they are not a monolithic bloc. And how valid are the claims that have been assigned to them?

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