Pundita on the Kargil Morality Tale, told in soup



Pundita was kind enough to give me a personal shout-out in her poignant, first-person parable about shepherding Americans in Kargil -- as a metaphor for the central truth that foreign policy systematically overlooks:

Dr. Ernie, I hope you see this essay. The ultimate point I make is that it's just a bunch of people, whether they reside on the other side of the globe or right here in the USA. To never lose sight of that fact is to always have a bridge that is much stronger than academic analysis and policy and development language.

We might not always be 'right' in how we try to deal with the problems of the developing world, but the bridge allows us to keep refining communications.

So it is for dealing with misunderstandings that arise between neighbors, co-workers and family members, and so it is for "foreign" relations and development strategies.

...

I'm not saying a couple master chefs can't do wonders with a few kerosene stoves and cooking pots, but the other Westerners at the table were lulled by their expectations into assuming that the kitchen staff and accouterments matched the menu offerings.

That, in one sentence, is the type of mistake behind much that goes wrong with US policy toward governments in less-developed countries. Such governments have learned to project the trappings of modernized administration but are in truth a long way from modern and informed.

Posted: Fri - August 26, 2005 at 11:13 AM        

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