Curious differences.
There is an interesting difference in countries. And it is a difference that is hard to see from the outside. Something internal. The stress faults that run through a nation and a people are so very different. Let’s compare three countries.
Country Number 1. Kyrgyzstan. In this former Soviet republic two day of relatively low key protests and the government collapses. The army isn’t called out, No mass movements through the streets, hell, hardly anyone dies. It was just yell, yell, yell and boom, a new president is in.
Country Number Two. Iran. Thousands of people gather in the streets of most of the major cities. They initiate protests that last for days. The police crush them and they reform, mass arrests are made and they reform. Major figures in the political hierarchy support them yet despite all of this the government of Iran is no closer to collapse now than it was the day the protests started.
Country Number Three. Thailand. Here in a truly bizarre game of public demagoguery the government has been switching sided every couple of years. One side win an election. Millions of protestors wearing identical t shirts calmly walk out into the streets and block everything up and in a couple of months the government folds and the T-shirt wearing hordes select a new government. Wash, rinse, and repeat. The most amazing thing about this is that it has all been relatively peaceful. Not a lot of stone throwing, firebombs, or troops spraying crowds with automatic weapons. Now there are some signs that the current government may have gotten tired of the game and since the Military command structure supports them it may be about to get ugly there. But this stuff has happened two or three times already without mass destruction which is amazing.
So what makes them different? Why does Kyrgyzstan collapse while Iran remains solid? Why does Iran resort to mass arrests and shootings while Thailand just works around the protestors? Sorry but I really don’t have any great answers. The Iranian suppression of dissent is not at all surprising. There is a grand history running back thousands of years of nations in that area doing the same things. I rather suspect the only thing that will get rid of the current Iranian governmental structure is the same thing that established it. Bloody revolution. But hey, Southeast Asia has a pretty long history of less than peaceful governmental changes. Just look around the neighborhood, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, heck, China. None of these countries has ever responded in a retrained peaceful manner when mass protesters hit the streets. So what has made Thailand suddenly different?
Kyrgyzstan almost makes sense. Their indigenous political structure was so thoroughly crushed by the Soviet Union that maybe the new guys in town just don’t feel that solidly emplaced yet. Although, Chechnya had also been pretty thoroughly suppressed too and they have done nothing but fight since the Soviets went away. In the neighboring former Soviet ‘Stans the current Thug in Chief seems to have no real problems staying in charge. So what went wrong in Kyrgyzstan? I somehow tend to suspect that it may have something to do with Russia. But that is just a supposition.
At any rate, the varying response to pressure does make you wonder.
Country Number 1. Kyrgyzstan. In this former Soviet republic two day of relatively low key protests and the government collapses. The army isn’t called out, No mass movements through the streets, hell, hardly anyone dies. It was just yell, yell, yell and boom, a new president is in.
Country Number Two. Iran. Thousands of people gather in the streets of most of the major cities. They initiate protests that last for days. The police crush them and they reform, mass arrests are made and they reform. Major figures in the political hierarchy support them yet despite all of this the government of Iran is no closer to collapse now than it was the day the protests started.
Country Number Three. Thailand. Here in a truly bizarre game of public demagoguery the government has been switching sided every couple of years. One side win an election. Millions of protestors wearing identical t shirts calmly walk out into the streets and block everything up and in a couple of months the government folds and the T-shirt wearing hordes select a new government. Wash, rinse, and repeat. The most amazing thing about this is that it has all been relatively peaceful. Not a lot of stone throwing, firebombs, or troops spraying crowds with automatic weapons. Now there are some signs that the current government may have gotten tired of the game and since the Military command structure supports them it may be about to get ugly there. But this stuff has happened two or three times already without mass destruction which is amazing.
So what makes them different? Why does Kyrgyzstan collapse while Iran remains solid? Why does Iran resort to mass arrests and shootings while Thailand just works around the protestors? Sorry but I really don’t have any great answers. The Iranian suppression of dissent is not at all surprising. There is a grand history running back thousands of years of nations in that area doing the same things. I rather suspect the only thing that will get rid of the current Iranian governmental structure is the same thing that established it. Bloody revolution. But hey, Southeast Asia has a pretty long history of less than peaceful governmental changes. Just look around the neighborhood, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, heck, China. None of these countries has ever responded in a retrained peaceful manner when mass protesters hit the streets. So what has made Thailand suddenly different?
Kyrgyzstan almost makes sense. Their indigenous political structure was so thoroughly crushed by the Soviet Union that maybe the new guys in town just don’t feel that solidly emplaced yet. Although, Chechnya had also been pretty thoroughly suppressed too and they have done nothing but fight since the Soviets went away. In the neighboring former Soviet ‘Stans the current Thug in Chief seems to have no real problems staying in charge. So what went wrong in Kyrgyzstan? I somehow tend to suspect that it may have something to do with Russia. But that is just a supposition.
At any rate, the varying response to pressure does make you wonder.
4 Comments:
I'm reading J. Edgar Hoover's book on Communism. He only wrote one book. Amazing how dysfunctional communism is. Those people have been oppressed so long I don't think they understand how crappy life is for them.
They were oppressed long before communism hit them. It has been their standard way of life for centuries.
Why is Russia the one that comes to mind ? You've been deployed abroad on 'national defense' and don't see the connection ? Land War in Asia doesn't align with North Atlantic Treaty Organization to defend free passage of the north Atlantic ( a Lend Lease sideshow )
Run a search on Color Revolutions and NATO
SoTT had a report - as did Steph's Blog on WordPress - on the Twitter Revolution in North Tehran being a creature of the opposition. You know : the former PM who authorized attacks on Americans when he was in power.Ahmadinejad's support among the poor...doesn't Twitter in English. There was $400 million reported allocated for a CIA organized Twitter 'Green Revolution'.
This in the place that complains about the BBC broadcasts subverting the people with propaganda while the military and government are targeted by Black Ops.
Ever seen this ?
Ahmadinejad's UN speech
http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-quotes-ahmadinejads-un-speech.html
And I went ballistic - finally
http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2010/04/politics-of-perception-foreign-policy.html
More accompanying reports of U.S. support in Kyrgstan fading when the rent on the U.S. base went up.Both recent head honchos had US support.
I have the devil's own time keeping this straight. You have a link from my previous note where those who don't like Ahmadinejad quote things supposedly making him look like an idiot.
Looked at in context - and allowing for differences in liguistic practices and translator's bias - not so much.
I came up with this site some years past when Blue Girl's boy said the 'translations' were nothing like what was being said.
http://ahmadinejadquotes.blogspot.com/
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