The good Americans
Amonster tsunami cannot only move small mountains - and wipe away whole villages - it can also shake up governments, revealing their weaknesses as well as strengths.
The most obvious example is the government of the United States. Washington, so obsessed by the 'war on terror', was initially ridiculously slow off the mark but, once in gear, began impressing everyone with its rapid-response capabilities - as did ever-reliable Australia.
The benefits of the US effort could be substantial, and not just to the beleaguered tsunami victims. For one thing, they may just, possibly, convince many Muslims in the region that we are not such bad characters after all.
And, by committing actual US troops on a humanitarian mission to Sri Lanka, the Bush administration may well have set in motion a useful process that could involve a reorientation of US policy in South Asia. Today, the very presence of something like 1,500 troops there changes that inconspicuous profile immensely - and possibly permanently. For a nation held back by decades of the severest kind of civil war, the tsunami, as terrible as it was, could prove to have some sort of partially redeeming value.
Another notable example of how a tsunami can brutally wash away even the political surface of things comes courtesy of China. Simply put, Beijing is still a major stage or two of economic and political development away from being a true world-class player.
At first, it scarcely knew how to react or what to do in the regional ecological crisis. In part that was because Beijing, even in its own country, sometimes does not know how to react or what to do at a crunch time. Still more of an aid recipient than a donor, it does not have the capability to operate very far afield, and certainly not quickly. China has a lot of growing up to do before it achieves superpower status.
Perhaps an even more glaring example is India. Its geopolitical goal is to be the dominant power in South Asia, but it obviously has a long way to go. The Indian archipelago of the Andaman and Nicobar islands were smashed by the tsunami, and India had its hands full responding to just that one problem. It has chipped in what it could - but not enough to make the argument that the US military need not get involved.
Note that Sri Lanka is only kilometres away from India's southern coast. Even India's rival, Pakistan, had to get involved in the island nation.
Tellingly, the Pakistanis were invited in by Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. In the region, many interpreted this action as a measured rebuff to New Delhi, with which Sri Lanka has had troubled relations.
So now India sees both Pakistani and American troops in Sri Lanka. This is not a high spot in the annals of Indian diplomacy.
And then there is good, old, reliable Japan. Tokyo pulled out the cheque book, once again, when Washington asked for it. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is known to be distinctly unhappy with the circumscribed limitations of cheque book diplomacy - the constitution is a big damper on foreign deployment.
It is notable that, while the formal pledges of the Japanese government exceed that of other governments, this is not true of the overall national societal contribution. That is because Japan is not a culture of private-sector giving, as is the US. The apparent outpouring of caring and affection in the US for this Asian tragedy is an awesome and welcome sight to behold. If it outlasts the day that the TV cameras lose interest, it could go down in history as one of America's finest hours.
Tom Plate, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, is the founder of the Asia-Pacific Media Network
Distributed by UCLA Media Centre
