With each passing day since Cyclone Nargis raged through Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, the inner workings of the nation's military regime are being brought more sharply into focus.
As UN officials, diplomats and aid workers push for action and access, they describe a grim picture - a basic, totalitarian regime that has been pushed to the limits of its internal logic.
Any pretence of a collective leadership has long evaporated and Senior General Than Shwe is more powerful than ever. Yet as his power increases, so does his isolation, unpredictability and paranoia. Even some of his closest internal allies are constantly monitored to ensure their loyalty.
The result is a regime in which no one wants to pass bad news up through the chain of command, especially if it is serious enough to reach the top. And Cyclone Nargis - potentially the worst humanitarian crisis to hit the region in decades - has brought bad news in spades.
'There are officials we are dealing with lower down who are bright and flexible and know what needs to be done,' said one senior UN official based in Yangon who is in contact with government ministers to get foreign aid moving.
'But they are letting us know that there is a point where they can't or won't act ... some messages just can't be passed upwards, so crucial decisions cannot be made. It is a cancer in the bloodstream of the regime that has spread up and down, and the cyclone is showing us all just how serious the condition is.'