ries are not just objects. They are subjects; they have agency. South Africa had a moderate postapartheid experience because of Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk. Japan rebuilt itself as a modern nation in the late 19th century because its leaders recognized their country was lagging behind the West and aske

- If Aung San Suu Kyi is elect=d to Burma's parliament on Sunday, the world will inevitably ask: Has Asia=s Nelson Mandela finally met her President F.W. de Klerk? Or, if you prefer a European comparison, has Asia's Vaclav =avel met her Mikhail Gorbachev? Cue episode three in the world's prisoner-=o-president