The Burmese Odd Couple

The New York Times

Op-Ed Columnist Bill Keller

September 30, 2012

...The most remarkable thing about Aung San Suu Kyi is how quickly she has learned the difference between being an icon and being a politician. Not all dissidents can see beyond injustice to the virtue of compromise, and those who do often spend as much time dueling with their allies as with their oppressors. Nelson Mandela did not rescue South Africa by spending 27 years in prison; he rescued South Africa by spending 27 years in prison, and then negotiating a power-sharing deal with the people who sent him there, to the dismay of some of his more unyielding colleagues. Aung San Suu Kyi, month by month, grows more sophisticated at using her stature without spooking the old guard...