| From West by Northwest.org Voices for the World Reading Off the Charts: "Another Quiet American: Stories of Life in Laos" and "A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis" By Patrick Hudson Oct 22, 2004
Another Quiet American: Stories of Life in Laos by Brett Dakin Asia Books, Bangkok Copyright 2003 974-8303-68-3 Brett Dakin was an Asian Studies major in college, but it did not prepare him for his years lived in Laos. In 1997, as a fresh graduate from Princeton, he went to work for the National Tourism Authority (NTA) in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic. It had been only seven years since Laos seriously opened to the West. Laos had few tourists and even less money. When Dakin arrived, there were still very few visitors to one of the last communist states in the world. Laos is different from its neighbors; it has the lowest population of an SE Asian country and is the poorest country as well. Still in 2004, there are no McDonalds, supermarkets, or even a single Automated Teller Machine that tourist can use in the entire country. Though reformed in its economic policy, Laos was (and still is) a bureaucratic communist state lacking any personal rights or freedoms. This young Western professional entered this country in transition; he has lived here for more than two years, and is able to write an insightful account of what he sees. He is different than the tourist by his lifestyle, and is different from most expatriates because of he works with Laotians, rather than other foreigners, for the Lao government. And, of course, he is not Lao, but he has completely emerged himself into the culture. Brett Dakin has learned the language, has Lao friends, and attends the local festivities and Buddhist ceremonies. He is amazingly open to a different culture and lives like a local, but Dakin does not forget his home, nor his audience. Dakin does what many wish they could do. However, just “going native" does not change one’s frame of mind. He still looked at things from an American paradigm, but he also has great insight and comprehension from his Lao experience -- a western mind with Lao insight. It is that combination of minds which gives this book such color, focus, and likeability. This book of non-fiction is composed of many vignettes each with an introduction and conclusion. All together, these short tales of life paint a picture of a small, seemingly sleepy capital on the eve of great change. The city was awaking from its closed, communist slumber -- reluctantly, but admirably, opening to the world. Dakin is able to experience this painful slow transformation from the inside of the NTA in Vientiane, the French-built capital of Laos. And it is an excellent setting for such wonderful adventures by a young man, along with truly colorful characters in a government bureaucracy. From the former (and corrupt) General who was his boss, to his Western educated friends trapped in their homeland, and to his co-worker who carried a sidearm, one can tell he knew these people more than just a superficial journalist or business acquaintance would. He is able to share insights that no other is able. Dakin is able to do this by his skilled writing. His prose seems almost academic in is concise quality, but it is never abrupt, nor plain. He describes the places in Vientiane so accurately, one can still go and find them and they are exactly as he wrote them. This review was written in Just For Fun, a vegetarian restaurant that was one his favorites and a place he describes well. The NTA, where he worked, is still as he describes it in its concrete barracks and so is everything else in the capital. Little has changed since he wrote about it. His lively and accurate descriptions are good for the traveler and the armchair companion alike. This book is the work of a writer who cares about his craft and is amazingly open to learning a new culture in a wonderful city. Brett Dakin looks at Vientiane as both a young man and as a Western trained professional. He has criticism for the government of Laos, the many NGOs operating there, and for plenty of individuals. Dakin is an observer who sympathic, but never afraid to be critical. Writing about a country without a free press, or any political opposition, the author, as a Westerner who faces no real threat, is able to say much that Laotian would never be able to say, let alone publish. After reading this, you will feel, smell, hear, and see what the author did. The stories never seem to hide anything -- the author is very honest in his experience. Dakin manages to do what every author wants; that is, he really does make his experiences his readers' as well. Now in law school, Dakin is a fine writer and I hope that he is able to produce some other work that will be as brilliant as Another Quite American,although, it would be a very difficult task. Some rare, lucky judge may have a very readable brief. A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis By David Rieff ISBN: 0099597918 Reporters are often thought as simplistic and anti-intellectual, but Rieff is neither. Known for his book Slaughterhouse, Rieff tries to compile his many experiences as a reporter covering humanitarian events in the last decade into a coherent history. Though at times he "falls" into personal expression, overall, his book is successful at creating a paradigm through which one can see the sources of humanitarian crisises in the last decade. His most notable accomplishment is to trace the political nature of the most prominent humanitarian NGOs, while constructing a larger paradigm which to evaluate the moral, and international and internal politics of these organizations. The book is that of a journalist and not of an academic nor of a sensationalist. A self-described critic of the international humanitarianism world, Rieff is occasionally self-absorbed in his own experiences, but yet this personified view of human misery makes it easy for one to gain empathy and insight in to what he says. (Conversely, those are not traits of an academic thesis.) Rieff makes no such claims as to be academic, the book is a juxtaposition of personal and intellectual insight. It makes it, at time difficult, to read, but the prose is that of an experienced journalist. Context is necessary for understanding and Rieff provides it. He starts with an overview of the early formation and transformation of humanitarian groups during WW I and later WW II. He briefly covers the later twentieth century and then begins his focus of the 1990s and the American-led war in Afghanistan. He admires the humanitarian movement, but powerfully shows that NGOs, the UN system, and their actions should not be exempt from criticism, reflection, and reform. The 1990s were the high point of the humanitarian movement. It had unprecedented funding and respect from the western World, and involvement in the rest of the world. But, as is shown by Rieff, there are no "humanitarian" responses to humanitarian problems. All is political. The examination of the responses and effects of the humanitarian groups in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and Afghanistan (with brief mentions of others, such as East Timor) is well thought and reasoned. He is able to show how the responses and effects changed with each incidence and, importantly, how to make sense of them. The discussion chapter which follows and his conclusion are the strongest sections of his work. Finally, David Rieff is able to put concise words to his paradigm and his thesis of the history of these humanitarian groups. He overtly supports military humanitarian intervention and makes a strong case for it by calling upon the history of the last decade and of the larger international system. Consider the overall failure of the international community in Africa, especially in Darfur as the crisis of the moment. I urge you to read this fascinating work. Unlike some academic pieces, it is never dry and it is often personal. With the current situation in Iraq and the continuation of an unstable Afghanistan, it helps one make sense of these situations. No matter your thoughts about the justification or the morality of war or humanitarianism, you will find this work at least an intellectual exercise, but hopefully more. He is the type of journalist for which we all wish. Rieff makes us rethink our assumptions about how and why we minister (or not) to people caught in the crosshairs of history. Patrick Hudson is webmaster of West By Northwest.org, a student at Reed College and is currently traveling around the world. © Copyright 2000-2004 by West by Northwest.org |
