Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

ARTICLE: “Bhutan Lets the World In (but Leaves Fashion TV Out),” by Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 6 May 2007, p. A3.

Doesn’t get anymore old school PNM than this: Bhutan is the most Gappish of states in that it’s tough terrain and landlocked. Moreover, a culture that “had guarded itself from the world outside so ardently that it allowed in satellite television only seven years ago.”

But “today, globalization is officially sanctioned,” so our Mr. Wangchuk can scan tattoo sites (strict taboo) for his next self-inflicted design.

Hmmm. Don’t think keeping out Stella McCartney and Donna Karan is going to do it here.

This is classic: I trade the connectivity for content control. The more I connect, the more I try to control, citing traditional taboos. The worst offenders are my youth (damn them!). I fear I’m waging a losing battle and over time I’ll mostly retreat to restricting criticism of the regime, because I can’t stop all the sex stuff no matter how hard I try. I’m distinctly getting the feeling that the cat will never go back into the bag. But I feel like I have no choice. My youth population is large, it’s getting more educated, and everyone talks about How can we attract jobs and investment to employ them all? So I don’t feel like I can restrict the Internet or other forms of connectivity, because without them no one will do business here or bring money. So I fear I’m trading off a lot of my distinct culture for economic opportunity, and that makes me nervous. Already, certain hardliners are making scary noises …

And so on.

Yes, yes, everything changed when the [insert technology/infrastructure] came to town.