in both cases, the un has run up against the limitations of its humanitarian mission as it's presently understood. in both cases, attempting to deliver aid would result in conflict with the state. the principles of the humanitarian mission would lead you to think that it is an international affair and that the consensus of the global community would override national sovereignty--but obviously the ways to implement this idea are not worked out.
personally, i think both sudan and burma point to limitations that really should be addressed--but doing it would be a deceptive radical business--for example, imagine the american right shrieking about national sovereignty being thrown out the window and the militia movement taking this as a prompt to revive itself--the world is increasingly post-national--the jurassic park of conservative politics that is the us is self-evidently not--but in this case, i think the same limit holds across the board.
sooner or later, this will have to be addressed at the international level.
i'm not sure enough people have died yet to force the issue.
and i wonder what the magic number of deaths is, the magic amount of unnecessary suffering.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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