Nepal, Sept. 28 -- Last Thursday, Prime Minister Sushila Karki 'addressed' the nation, promising timely elections, relief and accountability. However, one speech cannot erase a deeper pattern: In Nepal, leaders rarely engage with the people they represent, especially during moments of uncertainty.

On September 11, 2001, terrified New Yorkers looked at the skyline that had forever changed. At such a moment, it would have been expected for the city's leaders to retreat behind barricades, speak through layers of bureaucracy and rely on faceless communiques. Yet Rudy Giuliani-then Mayor of New York-walked the streets himself, with his suit as covered in ash as the people around him-and spoke to his city in words that were human, natural and ...