The question above is an interesting
Foreign Policy poser for Sri Lankan students of International Affairs. Obama is
going to Cambodia to attend an Asean Leaders Summit, but is nevertheless the
First by a sitting US President to that Country. Its been a while since
Cambodia opened up, and is now firmly within the US grip with much US
investment, and a wholesale scramble of rich Cambodians wishing to educate
their children in the US to come and run businesses and government!
It is barely 2011 when Myanmar opened up
to the world, but since the Pro Democracy leader’s visit in September to
Washington, Obama graces with a visit to a once Pariah state, where the Pariah
is still in power!! A record 22 months since the country opened up. In this
same record speed the US investments are flying in and even the Sri Lankan
Motor Traders, sickened by the flip flops of an unpredictable and schizophrenic
Sri Lankan Government, are scrambling for a piece of the action, by
re-exporting the cars they cannot sell in Sri Lanka to Myanmar!! Who would have
thought a few years ago that the US would make such an about turn in such a
short time?
It is a lesson to SL. Much of the
foreign investment designated for Sri Lanka is now gladly going to Myanmar.
Their gain is our loss, a direct trade off. I would recommend a student from
the External Affairs Ministry go to Myanmar and see what it is we have missed
by a Government taking the wrong turns. SL government has in fact cheated their
own people by this action, and the results can be seen clearly. The two faced
jingoistic politicians may say good riddance, but they would greatly have
preferred the US investment to fill their greedy bellies but for the anti
Western rhetoric, for local consumption.
The relaxing of rules, the encouragement
of investment, the enterprise of a still not corrupt population, not asking for
huge bribes are all part of this formula that benefits both the people of
Myanmar and the people of the Investing Country. It is a sad reflection of what
we in Sri Lanka have missed, what we have deliberately set aside for personal political
fame at home consigning our population to a state of siege of the devaluation of
law and order, and the morality of example of leaders that affect the actions of
the general public into a stealing, lazy amoral life.
Why unless their honorable intentions are
questionable, would a country after a debilitating war sacrifice the peace dividend?
Why is it that the people of Sri Lanka are so oblivious to have foregone the benefits,
to a daylight robbery by a few of the immense potential of this country? I can just
but wonder in words!!!
2 comments:
The REASON the President of the United States is visiting those 2 countries is BECAUSE they are so close within the sphere of CHINESE influence, thus the U.S. would like to try to influence events in the country a bit more.
If you read reports on the human rights practices in these countries, they are appalling -- much more so than anything that's going on in SL.
if the president was visiting countries to reward their allegiance to the united states, he would visit indonesia (the country of his former residence), philippines, singapore, and thailand.
instead he's visiting thailand, myanmar and cambodia to try and get them away from china.
the u.s. military wants to reopen its military base in thailand for "humanitarian and disaster relief operations." oh really?
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