Anthony Kuhn

As Myanmar Reforms, Indonesia Offers Some Lessons

Anthony Kuhn — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:39:00 +0000

As Myanmar's leaders push a series of political and economic changes, they are also having to deal with recent strife between the majority Buddhists and minority Muslims, or Rohingya.

Many countries making the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy have faced similar ethnic and sectarian conflicts, from Iraq to the former Yugoslavia.

But for Myanmar, perhaps the most compelling case study is also the closest.

Fifteen years ago this week, a deepen

Are Buddhist Monks Involved In Myanmar's Violence?

Anthony Kuhn — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

In the Western stereotype, Buddhists are meditating pacifists who strive to keep their distance from worldly passions. But last month, more than 40 people were killed in fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in the central Burmese town of Meiktila. Witnesses say some Buddhist monks joined in the violence, while others tried to stop it.

One prominent monk in particular has been blamed for being behind it.

U Wirathu, 45, is head of the Masoeyein monastery in Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, just up the highway from Meiktila.

The Threat To Indonesia's Biodiversity, Foretold In The 1800s

Anthony Kuhn — Sun, 05 May 2013 21:33:00 +0000

British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace was not only a key figure in developing the theory of evolution in the mid-19th century but also had the foresight to call for saving endangered species.

Wallace, who died 100 years ago this year, did his most important research in the rich biodiversity of Indonesia, and his plea for preservation is even more compelling than when he wrote it.

From my base in Jakarta, I can just step outside my home to observe the spectacle of li

He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct

Anthony Kuhn — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:04:00 +0000

Ask most folks who came up with the theory of evolution, and they'll tell you it was Charles Darwin.

In fact, Alfred Russel Wallace, another British naturalist, was a co-discoverer of the theory — though Darwin has gotten most of the credit. Wallace died 100 years ago this year.

Wallace developed some of his most important ideas about natural selection during an eight-year expedition to what was then the Dutch East Indies — modern-day Indonesia — to observe wildlife and collect specimens.

As Myanmar Reforms, Old Tensions Rise To The Surface

Anthony Kuhn — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:48:00 +0000

The town of Meiktila in central Myanmar presents a tranquil scene on a hot April day: A woman presses juice from sugar cane while customers loll around in the midday heat. The town is right in the center of the country, on a broad and arid plain where white cows graze among palm trees and pointy pagodas. It's a bustling trading post on the road between the capital, Naypyidaw, and the country's second-largest city, Mandalay.

But just down the street, there is evidence of a conflagration: Large areas have been reduced to heaps of charred rubble.