By Yug Bahadur “The Ugly American”. No, no, no, this is not at all my opinion or view of the American people as a whole. In fact, I believe that most Americans are very beautiful or handsome, no matter what the colour of their skin or from which part of the world they originally came from to now settle down in the US. “The Ugly American” is the name of a political novel authored by two writers Eugene Burdock and William Lederer, which was published way back in 1958. This book, which I at that time heard was banned in the ‘free press’ preaching the United States, was later made into a movie in 1963, in which very much popular actor Marlon Brando played the major character. Brando later became more popular when he played the God Father’s role in the movie with the same name and in later sequels, well-known stars of the present, like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino got their breaks in the fierce rat race of Hollywood. But to come back to the novel we first talked about, this novel was written after the disastrous failure of America in its diplomacy in South East Asia. In fact, it was because of such failure in its foreign policy in Asia, that the US government started another completely different approach and opened up the Peace Corps, under which ‘volunteers’ went and worked in very impoverished countries and tried to boost the image of the US government while helping the poor as well. In Nepal also, there was a strong presence of Peace Corps volunteers as soon as this campaign was started. The volunteers went to some of the most remote areas and lived with poor people in their homes and they really tried to help them as well. At that time, forget other places, even Kathmandu was a remote place. I remember, when going to Pokhara, our plane first landed in Gorkha, then in Bharatpur and then only it reached Pokhara. In those days some places where the volunteers had to go were very far and as there were hardly any roads they had to walk for days to reach some villages. We must admit that many of the volunteers did real good work and helped people in far-flung places by educating them, teaching them more about hygiene and also sometimes helping them get better health facilities. But in recent times America has been involved in more controversies than it needs to be. Just because it is the sole Super Power of the world, it does not mean it has to get into some difficult situations, where local people have been more irked than pleased with that country’s decisions. This does not reflect well the intentions of the US government, which actually has contributed significantly to world peace, especially, after the end of the Second World War. In Nepal itself, many people were not happy when the Millenium Challenges Corporation (MCC) was first brought into the country. Even leaders in the present coalition government had criticized it. But this was swiftly passed by Parliament. However the same could not be done when the State Partnership Programme (SPP) was brought forth a few months after the MCC deal. With pressure from almost all sides, the government was forced to say it would not agree to this offer put forth by America on a silver platter. But the inability of the government to take pragmatic decisions first displeased China and now by refusing to be a part of SPP, it definitely has not made the US officials happy either. This is not good for Nepal. The decision of the government to send an official letter to the US government was made public only a few weeks ago, many days after the Home Minister said a letter had already been sent to the US government regarding this. But it was heartening to read that none less than President Bidya Devi Bhandari saying, “Nepal is firmly following a non-aligned policy” The report emphatically stated that at a programme held about a fortnight back, President Bhandari said, “Nepal has been firmly following a non-aligned foreign policy because it believes a strong foundation for national sovereignty and integrity”. That is true, but some mistakes have been committed by our political leaders and the so-called “experts” in our Foreign Ministry. Such mistakes simply cannot be repeated in the future, if anybody has really good intentions for Nepal. This writer himself has been taught about media-related issues in the United States, but that was more than thirty years ago, and during those occasions, he had the opportunity to meet state governors, congressmen and senators, besides meeting the homeless and also beggars in different cities of that country. I also had the chance to meet World Bank officials and International Monetary Fund executives at their offices situated in Washington DC. Similarly, I met highly paid professionals and also a farmer who called his twenty-two hundred-acre wheat field a small holding. The husband and wife team also told me they hired only three people to look after their “farm” and they did all their business through the stock market. I also met a wealthy dentist and a socialite who travelled to all places of the world as we travel to our local markets and the dental doctor who had a half basketball court in his front yard and a swimming pool where you could dive in right from his dining room. So mostly all the Americans I met were good people, exactly like the diplomats I have met in Nepal. Of course, there are a few ‘bad apples', like we saw in the Peace Corps and also among the diplomats here. Many have come on a clandestine mission of their government and they don’t care how much grief they bring to the very nations which they are supposed to help. For example, the visit to Taiwan, by US Speaker of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi, is very irksome, to say the least. And the way the Western media has tried to project China as a ‘villain’, when it just wants to protect its territory, which the majority of the nations have recognized, including the US, is very sad. China did not start its military exercises near Taiwan, it was the visit of Pelosi which started the whole turmoil. So is it China or the US which has been ‘irresponsible’? In Nepal, where many voices are being raised against a senior lot of leaders to make way for a newer generation of energetic young leaders to guide the nation, America would also do well in playing the role of an experienced guardian, instead of meddling in micro level politics in the countries which they have an interest in. Our senior level of leaders should also do the same, just give advice and suggestions to the younger generation out of the experience they have gained in ruling the country many times. Even in free America, the president can only have two terms in office, but here we see the same faces time and again, this is not setting a good example. Nepal should not fall into the trap of being aligned with one nation or the other, when even leaders of this country centuries back said it should take a neutral stance, especially because of its geo-political situation in the past and the present as well. That is the only way we can save our sovereignty and integrity and allow the people to be prosperous and live in peace without the threat of any external powers.