I read the article by Abhi Subedi. The following paragraph caught my eye. Abhi Dai writes: "But America consciously exercises the luxury of the grand indifference syndrome, because according to Michael Ignatieff, this empire exercises 'hegemony without colonies'." ************************** My first reaction was: What's Mike Ignatieff's name doing in this article about, well, Abhi Dai's visa rejection story? Ignatieff is an international relations scholar. Disclosure: For some reason, as a reader, I get very wary when Nepali intellectuals and newspaper columnists (myself included :-)) start throwing around the names of big North American intellectuals for neither rhyme nor reason. I say that because my limited experience is that often such quotes from such un-introduced (in the written pieces) North American big names are there to give a semblance of deep-thought to what the Nepali intellectuals are trying to say, EVEN WHEN the original quotes are taken WAY out of context and are often incomplete, thereby doing injustice to those who made those quotes within specific contexts. A case in point: This is from a review of Mike Ignatieff's book: Source: - http://www.senecac.on.ca/quarterly/2004-vol07-num01-winter/notes/doughty8.html QUOTE In taking up this burdensome plan, Michael Ignatieff believes that the emergent “American empire is not like empires of times past, built on colonies, conquest and white man’s burden.” It displays, instead, an “hegemony without colonies, a global sphere of influence without the burden of direct administration.” Ever the realist, Ignatieff acknowledges that this new empire is not motivated by hypocritical faux humanitarianism but by ruthless self-interest, accompanied by arrogance and ignorance in roughly equal parts. Still, compared to the barbaric alternatives, an assertive America is humanity’s last, best hope. UNQUOTE I have not read Ignatieff's this book where he makes that quote. But this review, at least, makes it clear that whatever Ignatieff was saying about the US, his was far more sympathetic, if a realist, portrayal of the US than what Abhi Dai seems to let on in his Kathmandu Post article. Please feel free to disagree with reasons so that we can learn more and better. oohi ashu