Asia's year of living tenuously

Asia's year of living tenuously

If the human spirit could be flattened as easily as a fishing village, there would be only loss from events such as those we have seen this past year.

But in Asia's year of living tenuously, what is amazing is the extent to which lives, and livelihoods, have resumed, often under the weight of bereavement.

And in at least two seemingly intractable conflicts -- between Acehnese militants and the Indonesian government over independence, and between India and Pakistan over Kashmir -- the natural disasters that struck these regions have concentrated minds and opened channels of dialog.

Indeed, the Acehnese separatist movement, GAM, has surrendered its weapons in return for the promise of political legitimacy. Nor has human ingenuity been thwarted by nature, with a new tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean due to be commissioned next year.

The lesson of the tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake and the flooding of New Orleans is that we, as human beings, can bounce back from even the worst disasters -- provided we stick together. -- The Australian, Canberra