It’s difficult to appreciate the violence in Gaza because the circumstances are quite different from ordinary experience. The Gaza Strip has about twice the land area of the US District of Columbia (Washington, DC); Israel is about the size of the US state, New Jersey. The Gaza has a population of 1.7 million; Israel has a population of about 7.5 million. The Gross Domestic Product per capita in the Gaza is $1,100; Israel has a per capita GDP of $25,800. But perhaps the most important characteristic of the conflict is that there is quite literally no place for the people of Gaza to go for safety. All exit routes from Gaza are tightly controlled and, unless the Egyptian open up their border, the people of Gaza are trapped.
President Obama will soon be the first American President to ever visit the country of Burma. The changes that have occurred in Burma are truly historic and reflect the changing balance of power in the world: Burma is clearly worried about the growing power of China and is looking to the US as a counterweight to Chinese power. The price of US support? Moving toward a more democratic system. We are witnessing the exercise of hegemonic power–very subtle, but inexorable.
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