KASHMIR: How can peace be created in Kashmir?
During the time of independence and partition  in 1947, Jammu and Kashmir was one of 560 Princely States of India.  The leader of the region had to decide if Jammu and Kashmir should join India or Pakistan.  The outcome of this decision making process has led to an on-going war in South Asia.  Today both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers, which brings forth a great deal of international concern and peacemaking initiatives.  The highest battlefield in the world sits on the Himalayan ridge at 7000 feet. 

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BHUTAN: Should Bhutan embrace or reject globalization?
Bhutan is a small isolated monarchy in the Himalayas.  This kingdom had remained closed to the outside world since 1974, and today has very rigid policies for tourism.  There is a national dress code for all Bhutanese, and police may fine any Bhutanese not wearing the official national dress in public.  In 1999 the King of Bhutan wired the country to the Internet and legalized satellite TV.  The government hopes to use TV to maintain Bhutan’s Buddhist values, yet today more Bhutanese are watching professional wresting and 'Friends' than thinking about prayer wheels and chanting mantras.  Bhutan is the only country in the world to measure Gross National Happiness, and to have more monks than soldiers. 

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NEPAL: Can Nepal survive a democracy?
Today there is a great deal of political instability in Nepal.  This country restored multi-party democracy in 1990, ending thirty years of absolute monarchy.  During the past twelve years Nepal has experienced nine governments.  The Maoist are a pro-Marx/Lenin/Mao revolutionary group who have waged a six year People’s War in Nepal.  The Maoists want to end Nepal’s constitutional monarchy and replace it with a communist republic.  Since 1996 there have been over 3,600 casualties due to the insurgency, many victims are innocent villagers in the mid-montane regions of the Himalayas.

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TIBET: Can Tibetan culture survive the 21st century?
In 1959 the government of the People’s Republic of China occupied the region of Tibet.  Soon after the occupation religious practice was forbidden, most monasteries were destroyed, and Tibetans, along with other Chinese, were stripped of their basic human rights.  Since 1959, many Tibetans fled Tibet as refugees and settled in India, including the Dalai Lama who oversees the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala.  Today refugees from all Tibetan Buddhist sects have relocated to many regions of India and around the world.  Will the peoples of the Tibetan diaspora be able to sustain Tibetan culture for the future? 

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