In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

It has become a cliché to say that the only realities in Afghanistan are local realities: the Himalayan Hindu Kush separates the northern plains from the southern wastelands, and Afghanistan’s diverse regions are inhabited by very different ethnic groups that – because fertile land is so scarce – do not always find it easy to accommodate each other. The realities in the south and east are further complicated by the existence of numerous tribes with historically troubled relationships even though they share the same Pashto nationalist creed. So rivalry and conflict in Afghanistan is – to a large extent – local rivalry and local conflict. Afghanistan’s rapidly growing cities now present real development problems as well.

Afghanistan’s diverse regions are inhabited by very different ethnic groups that – because fertile land is so scarce – do not always find it easy to accommodate each other.

The longer-term conflict in Afghanistan is not political: it is economic. It is about resources, development, governance, and about managing the rapidly growing rural-urban divide. It is the same type of conflict that is dragging down other South Asian countries. This is evidenced by The Asia Foundation’s 2009 Afghan poll, which found that the majority of Afghans link insecurity more to racketeering, theft, extortion, and criminal violence than to the threat of insurgents.

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Most physical reminders of the violent clashes that took place in the center of Bangkok last month have been swept away. Protest graffiti has been scrubbed off the walls and shattered windows have been replaced with sparkling new glass. Aside from the charred skeletons of burned buildings, all other visual reminders of the thousands of “red-shirt” anti-government protestors who camped out in the center of Bangkok for almost two months are gone.

People clean up the streets after violent clashes took place in the center of Bangkok last month. Photo by Flickr user Candice and Jarrett, used under a Creative Commons license.

Shops and hotels in the area have re-opened and traffic once again clogs the roads that served as a temporary camp site for the red shirts. The soldiers who were ever-present around the camp perimeter have also vanished. In short, life in Thailand has begun to look normal again.

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The “peace process” in Nepal should have culminated on May 28, 2010, with a new constitution. Instead, the Constituent Assembly has been extended for another year. Even in the last three months when the negotiations appear to have intensified, nothing has moved ahead, not the constitution writing and not the integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist ex-combatants. Moreover, there is no “process” as such to move the agenda of the peace process forward from here. The big three political parties – Maoists, Nepali Congress, and the Unified Marxist Leninists (the latter two are in the ruling coalition) – meet every now and then to negotiate on the combatants issue and power-sharing agenda. When a certain meeting fails to make progress, the party members simply go back to their corners and keep quiet for a few days until they meet again. This impasse has sadly continued like this for the last several months.

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On June 15, The Asia Foundation’s Center for U.S.-Korea Policy director Scott Snyder, along with a “task force” composed of roughly two dozen experts, released a landmark report: U.S. Policy toward the Korean Peninsula, which emphasizes that “despite the difficulty of the challenge, the danger posed by North Korea is sufficiently severe, and the costs of inaction and acquiescence so high, that the United States and its partners must continue to press for denuclearization.” The United States cannot risk “the potential spread of nuclear weapons to rogue states, terrorist groups or others – especially in the Middle East.”

The Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force members – including Asia Foundation’s President Doug Bereuter and representing a wide variety of backgrounds –  concludes as tensions on the Korean peninsula rise after an international investigation found that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean warship, and warns that North Korea’s continued provocations pose a serious threat to its neighbors and that its nuclear weapons program must be stopped. Read the full report.

When I was asked to observe the special elections in Maluso town on Basilan island in Southern Philippines, the first thing that came to my mind is that it would be an eye-opening, informative experience. First, the place, part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is known to be a bailiwick of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf – five days ago the group beheaded three, some military officials say two, Filipino villagers in the mountains of Basilan in what analysts and police officials said was a desperate attempt by Abu Sayyaf to show the incoming Aquino administration that they are alive and still pose a threat. Second, Basilan is one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines, and as an election monitor, I was also interested in studying how elections – successful or not – can affect people in a place like Basilan.

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The Chinese government recently received a massive American delegation in Beijing when it hosted the second annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) on May 24-25. Led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, the 200-strong delegation included other cabinet secretaries, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, and experts on subjects ranging from energy to women’s issues. Although the dialogue did not achieve major diplomatic breakthroughs and unfolded amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, it did produce several memoranda of understanding on such topics as eco-partnerships and joint efforts to control infectious diseases.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (left) greets China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan (second from left) as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greets Dai Bingguo, China's state councilor, fifth from left, prior to the opening ceremony of the S&ED in Beijing. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images.

By the closing session, the S&ED appeared to have served the intended purpose of improving inter-agency cooperation, facilitating high-level dialogue, and laying the foundation for deeper bilateral cooperation in the future.

The warm speeches and calls for enhanced cooperation contrasted sharply with the state of bilateral relations only a few months earlier, when the Sino-U.S. relationship hit an unusually bumpy period following disagreements over climate negotiations in Copenhagen and threats from China to punish the U.S. for a $6 billion weapons deal with Taiwan.

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The new prime minister of Japan, Naoto Kan, who last week replaced Yukio Hatoyama after he abruptly resigned less than nine months into his term, certainly will have his hands full trying to reignite his country’s efforts to craft a coherent and sustained set of foreign policy goals and strategies. Hatoyama’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) predecessor, Taro Aso, spoke about an “arc of freedom and prosperity” in Asia as the core of Japanese foreign policy. Unfortunately, he was unable to articulate, much less implement, how that was to be achieved.

Hatoyama, in his limited tenure, stressed shaping an “East Asian fraternity,” improving relations with China, and putting the bilateral relationship with the U.S. on a more “equal” footing. Re-opening the issue of the U.S. air base on Okinawa turned out to be a tactical error.

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David D. Arnold

On Monday, The Asia Foundation announced David D. Arnold will become its new president in January 2011. A highly respected philanthropy and development veteran, Mr. Arnold is currently the president of the American University in Cairo and is a former Ford Foundation representative who worked for years in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. He also served as executive vice president and interim president at the Institute of International Education in New York. “I have known and admired the work of The Asia Foundation for many years, and am honored to be the next president of this visionary organization,” said Mr. Arnold. “Sensitivity, knowledge, and agility have long been hallmarks of the Foundation’s programs and people, and the assistance it provides throughout Asia is critical to the future development of the region. I am joining The Asia Foundation with great enthusiasm and a strong commitment to its mission, values, and aspirations.” Read full announcement.

Douglas Bereuter

Mr. Arnold succeeds former Congressman Douglas Bereuter as president and CEO, who retires from his leadership position December 31, 2010, having fulfilled a six-year commitment to the Board of Trustees. In a related statement Monday, The Asia Foundation announced it has experienced unprecedented growth and diversification in programming, funding, and staff under Congressman Bereuter’s successful tenure. “It’s been a very special privilege to lead this remarkable organization,” Mr. Bereuter said. “I am proud of the work we have done to actively invest in Asian organizations, coalitions, and citizens, and I hand the presidency over with both satisfaction and confident anticipation of its exciting future. Events in Asia critically affect American and global peace and prosperity; therefore, the work of The Asia Foundation has never been more important.” Read full announcement.

Zhang Jiao earned her wealth in the agricultural wholesale fruit business, buying bananas from Hainan Island, oranges from Sichuan Province, and rice from Northeastern China, and selling it to wealthy markets such as Beijing. Despite her financial success, Zhang wanted to get back to the countryside, away from the harsh, constant urbanity of Beijing’s Wukesong area where she lived. She packed her things, and left for Yanqing, a mountainous, distant suburb of Beijing, where she spent three months hiking in the mountains. The state of the hillsides, bald from years of careless deforestation, shocked her, and spurred her to action.

In 1997, one year after her trip, Zhang closed her wholesale business and leased over 600 hectares of mostly mountainous, barren land from the Yanquing local government.

On her land, Zhang Jiao launched Nature University as a place where urbanites can experience nature, as well as learn how to protect it.

Without much prior knowledge of ecology and reforestation, Zhang encountered difficulties and failures when she first began her reforestation project. Many of the trees she planted, not native to the area, couldn’t survive the harsh conditions and died as saplings.

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Around midnight on May 28, 2010, Nepali lawmakers took a stunning last-minute emergency action that served to keep hopes for a democratic constitutional republic and a stable nation alive in Nepal: by an overwhelming majority the Eighth Amendment Bill to the interim constitution to extend the Constituent Assembly’s tenure by one year was passed. Of the 585 lawmakers present in what was to be the final session of the House, 580 voted in favor of the Bill. (Four lawmakers from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party- Nepal (RSP) and one independent member voted against it.)

Nepal's Prime Minister Madav Kumar Nepal (center), and ministers and lawmakers vote on May 28 to extend the Constituent Assembly's tenure. PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images.

The Birendra International Convention Center in Kathmandu was the perfect setting for a nail-biting finish to a contentious month of political bickering and gamesmanship played by the parties in government and opposition.

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