Sticking Our Noses Where We Shouldn't

As an expat living in a foreign country it's always difficult to discuss politics and culture, because in the end it isn't your culture and it isn't your government, and nobody likes criticism from some outsider. That's true anywhere. While I certainly have my opinions and am happy to share my thoughts on certain topics, I have always advocated that Nepali politics should be decided by Nepali people, though this is rarely actually the case. Nepal has the unfortunate geographical location of being sandwiched between two of Asia's growing super powers, India and China and there is an undue amount of influence in their policies exerted by both these countries. It should also come as no surprise that European and American powers are also much more involved in shaping Nepali decision making than they should be.

Recent cables released by wiki-leaks shows that the United States has actively sought to destabilize the peace process and keep the Maoists out of power, working in conjunction with the interests of the Indian Government. While the original article I read on this can be read here, the fact that it comes from a pro-left wing website immediately makes you aware of a bias, and their treatment of the Maoist position is fanciful. In all fairness to the U.S. ambassador his instincts were for all intents and purposes correct, and the idea pushed in this article that the Maoists have been peacefully pushing for a revolutionary "people's" constitution is a load of rubbish. Anyone with any common sense can see that the Maoists have used the last few years to shift their war into politics and out of the jungle, their intent is still largely the same and if it's up to them they would rather not share power. The "peace process" here, as it is in most places, is just another way to fight a war.

The problem with the action the Americans are taking, regardless of the fact that they are most likely correct, is that people don't appreciate you screwing with their governments and denying them their own freedom of choice, no matter how terrible those choices might be. Allowing the Maoists to gain a hold over the entire country would be catastrophic in my opinion for Nepal, but I'm not Nepali, and whether they come to power or not is not, and should not be my choice or the choice of my country. It might be my duty to point out to my Nepali friends why many of their policies would be terrible for Nepal, why their history shows that they would most likely censor speech and press, why their economic policies and energy policies would further run Nepal into the ground and make it even further dependent on imported energy sources, and I could point out how communist run countries all over Asia have suffered horribly for their choices to support such governments, but what I should not do is decide this for them, nor should my government be urging the use of force to silence other's ideas. If the Nepali people choose the Maoists, that's up to them, not us.

It's safe to say that if we were to see the diplomatic cables of India, China, the UK, and some European countries we would see much of the same behind the scenes manipulation. Everyone has their nose in everyone else's business. This isn't to excuse the American actions but just to make it clear that this is indeed the way the game is played. The unintended consequences though for our own country is resentment from the people whom we are trying to help. Because when people see that kind of "help" no matter how well intentioned it just isn't appreciated and gives us a bad name and tarnishes our reputation and any integrity that we hold to the ideals and principles that our country was founded on.