The suffering and misery of Nepal’s poor led Siddhartha Gautama to renounce his throne and begin his quest for Enlightenment. Today little has changed for the people of Nepal. Some 70% of the population lives below the official poverty line of $400 yearly income; over half the children of Nepal suffer from moderate to severe malnutrition. (Nepal’s Himalayan vistas, while breathtaking, do not lend themselves well to growing crops). It would be easy enough to dismiss Nepal as another backwater nation in the middle of nowhere, but, alas, Nepal is strategically placed between the world’s two most populous nations, China and India. Like certain other mountainous obscure countries, Nepal could easily become the catalyst for conflict between superpowers.

The semi-feudal society which inspired Lost Horizon still exists, with most of Nepal’s wealth in the hands of a few high-caste families. Still, by most accounts Nepal’s late King Bihendra was a well-meaning enough fellow, in a Marie Antoinette sort of way. Everybody had high hopes for Nepal’s new multiparty democracy when Bihendra abdicated a good bit of his absolute power to Parliament in 1990. When little changed, and the wheels of democracy became mired in corruption and inefficiency, grumbling began. That grumbling had risen to a dull roar when, in June 2001, the King and nine other members of Nepal’s ruling family were massacred. An official inquiry found Crown Prince Dipendra responsible for an alcohol-fueled murder-suicide. Some noted that Crown Prince Gyanendra, Nepal’s new king, was conveniently out of town during the shooting. The editors of the Kantipur Daily even ran an article by a Maoist leader blaming Gyanendra for the murder … then promptly found themselves charged with treason. Suffice it to say that few in Nepal (publicly) question the official account now.

Depending on whom you ask, between 6 and 35 of Nepal’s 75 districts are entirely controlled by Maoist forces, who have set up a parallel administration. Their military wing, led from hiding by Prachanda, has appealed to the Red Cross and various human rights organizations for recognition as a standing army. As Mao’s “barefoot doctors” did in China, Maoist forces provide badly needed medical care and humanitarian assistance to Nepal’s poorest citizens. (In the best Maoist tradition, they also forbid “revisionism” or “imperialism” – read, competing political parties – in regions under their control). They have become increasingly popular as Nepal has continued to slide into chaos, particularly among the Western Mongol tribes whose ethnicity sets them apart from the ruling Hindu dynasty. The Nepalese police and army have tried to keep things in control with a series of extrajudicial executions: in response, Maoist guerillas have begun executing security officials, “informers” and “collaborators.” In a more disturbing trend, they have begun bombing foreign businesses and kidnapping travelers for ransom money. This can only exacerbate the already-dire financial conditions and lead to more Maoist support.

Of all the countries listed here, Nepal is in the most danger of an immediate Maoist takeover. If this were to happen, India would almost certainly intervene to overthrow the Maoists: Nepal borders Bihar, home of India’s own Maoist uprising. At best, this would lead to India fighting a two-front war, as tensions continue in Kashmir and along the Indo-Pak border. At worst, this could lead to open warfare between India and China.