About Nepal - By Stefen, Switzerland

I have been to India and - geographically speaking - quite close to Nepal, as I
was in Manali and I imagine that external and cultural conditions might
be somewhat similar. But outside of some general information, I don't
have enough personal knowledge about the exact situation in your country
for an informed opinion.

There are some general ideas that are universally true. Communism will
always lead to mayhem and poverty. An autocratic regime is likely to
stifle development in the interest of conserving power, except if the
leader happens to be one of the very few enlightened men who are willing
to give their subjects freedom, using force only to preserve peace and
the rights of the citizens.

The most brilliant advice to leaders was given by Lao Tzu, the founder
of the philosophy of Tao. You might want to include some of his quotes
in your book. A Taoist king might be better than a democracy, which
doesn't respect individual rights.

Since your royalty doesn't seem to take their inspiration from Taoism, I
have little hope that they are good rulers. I heard that there are many
government backed monopolies in Nepal, which are granted to a few chosen
individuals and families, who gain immense wealth and power. I doubt
that they would be much in favor of opening their country and their
markets...

I wouldn't mind visiting your country one day and studying its
conditions with you, but I'm afraid that won't be possible in the
immediate future. There is a slight possibility that I'll be at a
conference in Mongolia next summer, cf. www.isil.org, but the venue
hasn't been decided yet. Participating in such a conference might be of
great interest to you, as you would meet people from all over the world
and very different backgrounds there. It so happens that the prime
minister of Mongolia wanted to attend previously, hence the invitation
to his country. A previous sponsor was Otto Guevara from Costa Rica, who
is now the most hopeful presidential candidate for next year's election.

This should just underline that ideas matter and by advocating positive
ideas consistently, one can represent a force for change, so by all
means do publish your book!

If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me again. I
would also suggest that you should contact Center for Civil Society
India, www.ccsindia.org, as they are much closer to you. I'm sure they
will be willing and able to help you. They already publish many books
themselves. Several members are already good friends of mine. I very
much enjoyed their company and their energy and courage to speak up.

Regards,


Stefan