And he concludes that “while it may give Sylvester Stallone a warm inner glow, and bring temporary comfort to the activist community, Rambo 4 risks delaying the resolution of Burma’s complex problems and prolonging the suffering of the Burmese people”.īut Rambo is a figment of the imagination – the ultimate, All-American, action hero. He identifies some of the deeper, dare I say it, “strategic” problems with Rambo’s Burma foray. Over at the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter – a must-read blog for anyone who follows foreign policy debate in Australia – Andrew Selth has a few critical jabs at the recent Rambo film and all it represents. And now it looks like we will have an unexpected Japanese angle to this intriguing story of military ambition, foreign fighters and the continuing quest for a “free Burma”.īut John “Are you bringing in any weapons?” Rambo has a habit of leaping back on to the agenda… For better or for worse, they have provided a new and publicly discussed dimension to the ongoing battle between the Karen National Liberation Army and the men of the tatmadaw. Of course, in recent months the fictional John Rambo has been replaced, both here and in more general reporting, by the Thomas Blemings, Jake Slades, David Everetts and Derek Meltons of the world.
Rambo 4 has, over the past couple of years, remained a standard reference point for New Mandala‘s discussions of the war that simmers away on Burma’s eastern fringe.