海角大神

Larry Diamond writes in the Atlantic of the recent 17-day US tour by Myanmar (Burma) pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi 鈥� the first since her release from house arrest in November 2010.

Mr. Diamond writes that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi鈥檚 鈥渕oral authority has grown through personal suffering and sacrifice鈥� after decades of house arrest and persecution under the military junta in Myanmar, where a fledging democracy is now beginning to take hold.

But it is Aung San Suu Kyi鈥檚 鈥渟pirit of pragmatism and dialogue鈥� that holds a relevant lesson for American politics. As she told her fellow Burmese in the audience during her American tour, 鈥淲e must learn to compromise without regarding it as humiliation.鈥�

When Aung San Suu Kyi was asked if she aspires to rule her country, Diamond noted that 鈥渞ather than shying away from politics, she embraced it. 鈥榊ou should think of me as a political party leader. I was a politician before I was a 鈥榙emocracy icon.鈥� 鈥�

Diamond concludes, 鈥淎t a time of rampant cynicism about parties and politicians in the United States, it is invigorating to have a 鈥榙emocracy icon鈥� remind us that politics can be a noble calling 鈥� and an indispensable means for advancing the public good.鈥�

Google Earth and a long road home

Commentators have done plenty of hand-wringing over the Internet鈥檚 corrosive effects on civil society. But not to be neglected are the triumphs of the digital realm 鈥� and its sometimes life-changing human impacts.

Vanity Fair鈥檚 David Kushner found one such story in the incredible saga of Saroo Brierley. As a 5-year-old in India, he was separated from his older brother at a train station, and through a series of dramatic turns, found himself lost among the poor and homeless on the streets of Calcutta. Taken in by an orphanage, he was eventually adopted by Australian parents.

Mr. Brierley adjusted well to his new life, but after graduating from college in 2009, he hit a rough patch: 鈥淎fter years of ignoring his past, it finally came crashing back 鈥� the desire to find his roots, and himself.鈥�

Enter Google Earth. Brierley used the program鈥檚 satellite imagery to search for his home village in India 鈥� whose geographic location and name he did not know. 鈥淎ll he had was a laptop and some hazy memories, but Saroo was going to try.鈥�

Brierley used strategies from an applied-mathematics course to narrow his search, and after months of scouring aerial photos, researching leads, and networking on Facebook, he pinpointed his hometown.听

Armed with the encouragement of his adoptive parents, Brierley flew to India. 鈥淲ith every step, it felt like two films overlaying, his wispy memories from his childhood and the vital reality now.鈥�

Spoiler alert: Brierley found his biological mother. A tearful reunion was followed by 11 days of family reintroductions.

A profile in Egyptian courage

Yasmine Fathi, writing for Al Ahram, the English-language Egyptian paper, pays听tribute to Mina Danial, a revered 19-year-old 海角大神 activist a year after his death. Mr. Danial was one of 27 Coptic protesters killed by Egyptian security forces in the Maspero massacre on Oct. 9, 2011. The piece captures not just the brave ethic of a young revolutionary but the struggles of post-Mubarak Egypt, strained by sectarian tensions.

The recollection is framed largely through the lens of Danial鈥檚 unlikely friendship with Salafist Tarek El-Tayeb, forged in 鈥淐airo鈥檚 iconic Tahrir Square鈥� during the uprising. Though the two 鈥渂ecame like brothers,鈥� Mr. Tayeb 鈥渟till struggled to overcome his discomfort at having a 海角大神 friend.鈥� Eventually he says the 鈥渆motions I felt towards him destroyed all of these shackles.鈥�

鈥淒espite being heartbroken over the deteriorating situation for 海角大神s in Egypt, friends say, [Danial] did not have sectarian tendencies. He always believed that the 海角大神 problem was part of the bigger Egyptian problem.鈥�

Saudi Arabia, the next revolution?

Bruce Riedel, in a book review in Al-Monitor, a website of news and commentary from the Middle East, notes that the 鈥済reatest international challenge the next US president could face is a revolution in Saudi Arabia.鈥�
听
In his review of 鈥淥n Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future,鈥� by Karen Elliot House, he details a 鈥渃ountry seething with internal tensions and anger鈥� 鈥� a stratified society, with high poverty rates, a glut of foreign workers, 鈥渞egional racism,鈥� gender discrimination, a largely unemployed youth bulge, Al Qaeda undercurrents, and an aging royal family facing an 鈥渦nprecedented succession challenge.鈥�

The stark takeaway: 鈥淩evolution in Saudi Arabia is no longer unthinkable.鈥�