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The Philanthropic Businessman Who Manufactured Peace Without Peril

POSTED ON - Nov 12th, 2025

As Nishimizu wrote, “Fortunate are the people who beheld such a leader. Precious is the leader who receives such a tribute.”[1]

At the tender age of sixteen, amid mourning for the late king, his father, and trepidations of the future unseen, the young prince anchored to peace, not so much himself, but an orphaned Bhutan. During the coronation address on June 2, 1974, His Majesty the Fourth King presented his proposal for partnership with the people in securing the country’s sovereignty, peace, and development. It was an audacious departure from the globally accepted governance systems that thrived on control and subservience. His message was simple yet revolutionary: building the nation’s strength depended on the willing hands of its people, who could effect radical changes than could any of the government’s grandest undertakings.[2] There were no grand promises nor lofty enticements for loyalty; only an astounding and ludicrous offer of partnership. The King proposed, and the people accepted in a daze. The King and his Partners thus ventured to invest wisdom, courage, and compassion to manufacture the peace that we have today.

The King’s vision for an enlightened citizenry inspired him to prioritize free education and health, social determinants that would prove as basic amenities like air and food in the modern day, to make people capable of having a say in this partnership. To ensure an equal footing for his Partners in decision-making, the King established the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdu(DYT) and Gewog Yargay Tshogchung(GYT) as people’s power banks within the decennial period of 1981 and 1991. In an unparalleled act of humility, the King relinquished absolute authority by introducing the Vote of No Confidence against the throne, followed by equalizing his own, the royal family members, with common people under the law, including the land ownership ceilings.[3] This heralded the coming of a revolutionary era of voluntary decentralization and peaceful transfer of participatory power. The peak of the devolution of power was in 1998, when the King willingly transferred his executive power to the elected Council of Ministers. For the first time, citizens, even from the remotest parts of the country, who had a stake in governance, could have their voices heard, understood, deliberated, and acted upon through their elected representatives, the proxies. No longer did they have to passively accept endowments from the central government that postulated their woes from the capital; they could now participate directly in decisions that affected their lives. Crucial in the manufacturing of peace were also the civil servants, for whom the King recurrently reformed the system to replace privilege and backslide with meritocracy and unambiguous accountability, ensuring fairness and professionalism in services for the country.[4]

In a governance where the selected few, though elected, led the majority, there would always be the jeopardy of inequality, misuse, and corruption if left unchecked. This could endanger the partnership as it will have shaken people’s confidence in its representatives and bred mistrust and instability. Therefore, the King established independent oversight institutions: the Royal Audit Authority (RAA), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB). These institutions ensured fairness, transparency, and accountability, and also proved vital groundwork for the democratic transition that would follow in 2008. To aid in the promotion of these values, the King also asserted for independent media, to encourage participatory expression and information about the unprecedented developments.[5]

The King’s relationship with his Partners remains a phantom everywhere else in the world. From granting land grants to the economically disadvantaged, and subtly promoting gender equality by levelling the wage for men and women in the erstwhile household labour contribution,[6] to trodding forsaken paths to isolated villages to talk to his people, the King proved, through his deeds, no less than what the prophecies of yore promised the country. When the violent external militant groups threatened our peace in 2003, instead of issuing commands from the security of opulent palaces and in the comfort of a loving family, the King led his men in the field, causing the least casualties and loss of lives on both sides ever to be seen in the world’s history. The healing that followed echoes, even to this day, a reminder of how lucky we are for what we have today.

Throughout this venture, the King was never too proud nor too selfish to usurp the credit for all the milestones. The King never hesitated to advise and admit how the country could leverage foreign interests in Bhutan to gain aid for progress and development. His shrewd diplomacy and prominent yet humble stature in representing himself and the country rooted our identity in the world. The incredible stories of the philanthropic businessman in a king permeated all borders and nations. It is no wonder that the King promoted the recognition and promotion of environment and culture not as utilitarian assets with prospects, but rather as a way of life and their inherent value to the world. This noble thought, in congruence with his love for his people, is what gave rise to the concept of Gross National Happiness. The philosophy did not need advertising; it just sank in, deep into the hearts of every person worldwide, corrupted by the race of capitalism and materialism. And even without any solicitations, the world did not spare to recognize this King with accolades like the UNEP’s Champions of the Earth Award in 2005, the J. Paul Getty Conservation Leadership Award in 2006, the Kyoto Earth Hall of Fame in 2011, and the Blue Planet Prize in 2022, among many.

At the peak of his popularity among his own people and the international community, while everyone would have wanted to relish it, the King relinquished the very moment by expressing his desire to abdicate the throne in 2006. The King descended from power in no ordinary circumstances; he had already planted the seed for a peaceful democratic transition with the initiation of the Constitution drafting. A true philanthropist who gave his all and took nothing in return.

The novel partnership between a king and his people is a testament to the rare blend of humility and strength in His Majesty the Fourth King’s leadership. There is great power in the hand that wields it, but even greater power in one that is willing to share it. In the thirty-four years of partnership with his people, the world witnessed through His Majesty’s reign a unique governance that achieved peace not through domination, but compassion. Like the timeless parable of teaching a man to fish rather than giving him one, the partnership offer was, of course, a facade for empowering people to provide for themselves. His Majesty nourished people’s imaginations and untethered the souls from generationally inherited limitations. Through compassion and foresight, he transformed an entire nation into partners in peace. The philanthropic businessman we were fortunate to partner with in His Majesty’s form left us with incalculable good fortunes and also a timeless lesson that the surest way to protect peace is to live by it every day.

[1] Mieko Nishimizu, The Portrait of a Leader; Through the Looking Glass of His Majesty’s Decrees, The Center for Bhutan Studies, 2008.

[2] His Majesty the Fourth King’s Corronation Address.

[3] In the Royal Decree of His Majesty the Foruth King to the Home Minister in 1986.

[4] In the Royal Decrees of His Majesty the Foruth King to the Secretary of the Royal Civil Service Commission dated October 1985 and 27 october, 1986.

[5] In the Royal Decree of His Majesty the Fourth King to the Communication Minister on 18 September, 1992.

[6] In the Royal Decrees of His Majesty the Fourth King to the Dzongdas, Gups, Chhimis and the People dated 8 June, 1993.

By Tashi Dema, Class of 2026

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