Are the nonviolent struggles of Buddhists in Tibet and Burma promoting peace in other areas of the world?

From the Slate article, the question arises:
Are the nonviolent struggles of Buddhists in Tibet and Burma promoting peace in other areas of the world? These struggles obviously have not gone unnoticed on the international scene or here in D.C. where vigils and protests have been held over the past year. Now the Dalai Lama has become probably the most famous world religious leader in his campaign for support of Tibet and, along with the struggles of his people, sparked a popular interest in Buddhism. Many Buddhists criticize the Dalai Lama for becoming a media spectacle and an object of consumerism, but maybe this really is an efficient strategy for disseminating the story of nonviolence that is Tibet. Consumerism is not really the Dalai Lama's fault anyway, and picking up Buddhism from the internet or a bookstore is really not as superficial as it may sound to many practicing Buddhists. I speak from personal experience when I say that buying a popular book about Buddhism and reading about Buddhism online can transform inner violence: no doubt, I would not be writing this message otherwise.

It is important to remember that, as I indicated, Tibet and Burma are not just tragedies of violent oppression, but also examples of nonviolence in action. We must thank those who uphold nonviolence as an end in and of itself and not merely a strategy to be discarded when it fails to conquer the oppressors, for, like Jesus when he forgave the Romans on the cross, they are role-models for humankind. This so-called nonviolence should not come only in the form of negation, but as an affirmation.

Contributing to the popular influence of the events are media that increasingly portray this aspect of affirmation alongside that of the negative: CNN's show "Buddha's Warriors" gave air to a monk who had been clubbed on the head by police. "How do you respond to that?" asked the interviewer. "Respond with love," he answered.

And now it is our turn to respond to this message with a love of our own in support: here is the cycle of love and compassion upheld by principled nonviolence. Can we devise any more strategies to improve the efficiency of delivering this message?

One thing from today . . .

• Once we let go of our fears, we become more powerful than weapons
• Ordinary civilians have the power to stop violence
• Image of Chilean protesters - I hope I'll feel as passionately as they did about their cause
• Incredible amounts of emotion that ebb and flow and overwhelminly unite people in struggles of nonviolence
• From the film, funerals are where violence is born
• How can we make powerlessness a weapon?
• Give our own lives rather than taking lives is the greatest strength of nonviolence
• It requires a lot of perseverance to achieve one's goals through nonviolence
• Nonviolence has to be about more than just regime change to jhave a lasting effect on peoples' lives
• People become violent to be heard in a world where they feel dispised
  

Compare the Protests

John McCain accepted the Republican nomination last night. There were two sets of protest. Compare and contrast, and comment on the effectiveness of both in achieving their goals, (oh, yes, what were their goals?) and in building sympathy for their cause . . . or the candidate.