s of the people, and that, in any case, development and Westernization are inevitable, so we had better make the best of it. With respect to the question of the contrast between the Village and the City, Buruma is generally saying that the Village has not been as damaged as critics of development claim, and neither has the City been as completely Westernized as those critics claim. Politically, this shift in the relationship between the Village and the City is found to be favorable to Buruma. His book is only political in passing, for he argues that politics and politicians "come and go" (xi). Buruma's main argument in all this is that the Asian people themselves---in villages and in cities alike---are getting along just fine in the midst of this turbulent clash of traditional and Western elements. To Buruma, the only people having trouble are Westerners themselves, who fear that the East is being swallowed by the West.
Again, although he does deal with specific political changes in these nations, in general he sees politics in Asia as evolving toward democracy, which is very good and which overshadows any negative effects of Westernization on politics. Politically, for the most part, there is greater freedom of choice, greater rights, greater responsibility, and that is also a very good thing. Buruma sees this rise of the city and diminishment---or transformation---of the village to be both positive overall as well as utterly inevitable.
Burma is certainly not one of the more successful nations in dealing with the clash of the Village and the City. The "Village" is Burma is essentially the military dictatorship which refuses to allow political or any other form of freedom. The military has crushed a popular uprising seeking more democratic political institutions. The people sought to share in the liberalization of politics which has
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