August 8 marked 20 years since Burma’s popular democratic uprising and the deaths of 3,000 Burmese who participated in that struggle. No one knows how many more have suffered under the oppressive regime of a military junta.

In an anniversary statement released by the State Department, the United States renewed “its call for Burma’s military junta to release immediately all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and end its detention of Burmese engaged in peaceful political activities.” But the unspoken question left hanging in the air is “Or else what?”

The Burmese government’s disregard for the welfare of its citizens has allowed it to hold them hostage, a virtual human shield against pressures by other governments and nongovernmental organizations to help Burma find a path to peaceful reconstruction and restoration of basic human rights to its people. Even in the wake of the destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis, governmental restrictions delayed and diverted aid from people who desperately needed it.

Like Zimbabwe, this resource-rich East Asian nation was once a regional breadbasket capable of feeding its own people and exporting its surpluses. “Now half the people who live in Burma suffer from malnutrition and hunger,” first lady Laura Bush said August 7 at a Thai camp for Burmese refugees. She reiterated a call for other nations to join in “U.S. sanctions directed specifically at General Than Shwe and his cohorts in the junta.”

What more can or should the world be doing to champion the Burmese people?

Conditions in Zimbabwe, now in the 28th year of Robert Mugabe’s presidency, are continuing their downward spiral, despite the March 29 defeat of Mugabe by presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai in a national election. Because Tsvangirai failed to achieve the required majority (51 percent of the vote), a runoff election is scheduled for June 27.

Since March 29, when Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party lost its majority in parliament, violence and threats against supporters of Tsvangirai’s opposition party have been widespread. (See “Zimbabwe Government’s Theft of Children’s Aid Is ‘Unconscionable.’“)

America.gov received the following e-mail last week:

“I THINK THAT AMERICA AND SOME OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES SHOULD HELP ZIMBABWEANS OBTAIN THEIR FREEDOM EITHER BY ASKING THE FBI TO MONITOR ON THE RUN-OFF OR SEND TIGHT UN SECURITY TO STRONGLY MONITOR ON THE ELECTIONS BECAUSE WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT MUGABE IS GOING TO RIG AGAIN!THE UN SHOULD EVEN SEND SECURITY CAMERAS TO BE USED DURING ELECTIONS.

ZIMBABWE IS LIKE HELL THESE DAYS BECAUSE OF MUGABE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO RESIGN,ITS BETTER THE COUNTRY BE LED BY THE ARMY THAN MUGABE WHO HAS NO CONSIENCE!I THINK THE UN SHOULD ALSO SEND SOME SOLDIERS TO PROTECT PEOPLE IN THE RURAL AREAS BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF BLOOD SHEDDING BECAUSE OF MUGABE’S PEOPLE.

WESTERN COUNTRIES PLEASE HELP ZIMBABWEANS OBTAIN THEIR FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!”

What can or should the international community be doing for Zimbabwe? Is shining a light on the elections enough or are other efforts needed?

At a conference intended to renew international support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, the issues of security, illegal drugs and corruption topped the agenda.

In Paris on June 12 Afghan President Hamid Karzai presented his government’s five-year national development strategy to the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan in hopes of surpassing the $10.5 billion in international aid pledged at the 2006 London conference to continue Afghanistan’s recovery.

But getting the pledges is only the first step; delivering that aid continues to be a challenge, with the road to Afghan recovery blocked by enormous potholes in the form of violence, narcotics trafficking and corruption of law enforcement personnel and government officials. (See “Afghan Government Charts Challenges.”)

Half a world away, at a different international meeting, that same set of problems got a different kind of attention as representatives to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States noted the dramatic progress Colombia has made against violence and narco-trafficking.

“We have witnessed a transformation of our hemisphere,” said Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, and “no country embodies this transformation more than Colombia.” (See “Western Hemisphere Meeting Showcases Progress in Colombia.” )

Are there lessons from Colombia’s experience that can be useful in Afghanistan, or is the situation – cultural, historical and political – too different for the same approaches to work?