A Void in Myanmar
Title | A Void in Myanmar PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Pages | 14 |
Release | 1997 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
Dictatorship, Disorder and Decline in Myanmar
Title | Dictatorship, Disorder and Decline in Myanmar PDF eBook |
Author | Monique Skidmore |
Publisher | ANU E Press |
Pages | 240 |
Release | 2008-12-01 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1921536330 |
Mass peaceful protests in Myanmar/Burma in 2007 drew the world's attention to the ongoing problems faced by this country and its oppressed people. In this publication, experts from around the world analyse the reasons for these recent political upheavals, explain how the country's economy, education and health sectors are in perceptible decline, and identify the underlying authoritarian pressures that characterise Myanmar/Burma's military regime.
The Military in Burma/Myanmar
Title | The Military in Burma/Myanmar PDF eBook |
Author | David I Steinberg |
Publisher | ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute |
Pages | 48 |
Release | 2021-05-12 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 9814951722 |
The Myanmar military has dominated that complex country for most of the period since independence in 1948. The fourth coup of 1 February 2021 was the latest by the military to control those aspects of society it deemed essential to its own interests, and its perception of state interests. The military’s institutional power was variously maintained by rule by decree, through political parties it founded and controlled, and through constitutional provisions it wrote that could not be amended without its approval. This fourth coup seems a product of personal demands for power between Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Aung San Suu Kyi, and the especially humiliating defeat of the military-backed party at the hands of the National League for Democracy in the November 2020 elections. The violent and bloody suppression of widespread demonstrations continues, compromise seems unlikely, and the previous diarchic governance will not return. Myanmar’s political and economic future is endangered and suppression will only result in future outbreaks of political frustration.
A Delicate Relationship
Title | A Delicate Relationship PDF eBook |
Author | Kenton Clymer |
Publisher | Cornell University Press |
Pages | 424 |
Release | 2016-02-19 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1501701010 |
In 2012, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president ever to visit Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. This official state visit marked a new period in the long and sinuous diplomatic relationship between the United States and Burma/Myanmar, which Kenton Clymer examines in A Delicate Relationship. From the challenges of decolonization and heightened nationalist activities that emerged in the wake of World War II to the Cold War concern with domino states to the rise of human rights policy in the 1980s and beyond, Clymer demonstrates how Burma/Myanmar has fit into the broad patterns of U.S. foreign policy and yet has never been fully integrated into diplomatic efforts in the region of Southeast Asia. When Burma, a British colony since the nineteenth century, achieved independence in 1948, the United States feared that the country might be the first Southeast Asian nation to fall to the communists, and it embarked on a series of efforts to prevent this. In 1962, General Ne Win, who toppled the government in a coup d’état, established an authoritarian socialist military junta that severely limited diplomatic contact and led to a period in which the primary American diplomatic concern became Burma’s increasing opium production. Ne Win’s rule ended (at least officially) in 1988, when the Burmese people revolted against the oppressive military government. Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as the charismatic leader of the opposition and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Amid these great changes in policy and outlook, Burma/Myanmar remained fiercely nonaligned and, under Ne Win, isolationist. The limited diplomatic exchange that resulted meant that the state was often a frustrating puzzle to U.S. officials. Clymer explores attitudes toward Burma (later Myanmar), from anxious anticommunism during the Cold War to interventions to stop drug trafficking to debates in Congress, the White House, and the Department of State over how to respond to the emergence of the opposition movement in the late 1980s. The junta’s brutality, its refusal to relinquish power, and its imprisonment of opposition leaders resulted in public and Congressional pressure to try to change the regime. Indeed, Aung San Suu Kyi’s rise to prominence fueled the new foreign policy debate that was focused on human rights, and in that climate Burma/Myanmar held particularly large symbolic importance for U.S. policy makers. Congressional and public opinion favored sanctions, while U.S. presidents and their administrations were more cautious. Clymer’s account concludes with President Obama’s visits in 2012 and 2014, and visits to the United States by Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, which marked the establishment of a new, warmer relationship with a relatively open Myanmar.
Turmoil in Burma
Title | Turmoil in Burma PDF eBook |
Author | David I. Steinberg |
Publisher | Signature Books |
Pages | 384 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN |
Few states in the contemporary world present the complexities that characterize Burma/Myanmar at present. On the one hand, it has been under military rule for some forty-four years at this point, with many traditional factors in operation: an high degree of authoritarianism; the dominance of personalization over institutions; powerful centrism, but with a progressive weakening as the distance from the center lengthens; and the importance of religion as a source of identity. Those who govern Myanmar have given ample indication in recent times of a desire to interact with diverse international bilateral and multilateral operations. Yet Burma/Myanmar nationalism has contained a xenophobic quality emphasized on occasion, a proclivity that is more conducive to isolation than to cooperation. In this context, the movement of the capitol from Rangoon to Pyinmana in the interior, while proclaimed as a move to provide easier access to all parts of Myanmar raises questions. Moreover, as was demonstrated recently, in the face of strong opposition, Myanmar was prepared to give up its scheduled chairmanship of ASEAN rather than to change its domestic political policies. Under the circumstances, it is fortunate to have a highly regarded scholar who has spent many years undertaking in-depth studies of Burma/Myanmar as well as other parts of East Asia, with a history of friendships and research in the region, provide us with an up-to-date analysis. David Steinberg presents a broad picture of the complex scene, commencing with a presentation of key theoretical and historical considerations, and proceeding to an analysis of various specifics relating to the current Burma/Myanmar society and state. His analysis is comprehensive and balanced, taking into account the many complexities and uncertainties of this troubled state. We are indeed fortunate to have this work available. from the Foreword by Robert A. Scalapino
Myanmar's Enemy Within
Title | Myanmar's Enemy Within PDF eBook |
Author | Francis Wade |
Publisher | Zed Books Ltd. |
Pages | 210 |
Release | 2017-08-15 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1783605308 |
For decades Myanmar has been portrayed as a case of good citizen versus bad regime – men in jackboots maintaining a suffocating rule over a majority Buddhist population beholden to the ideals of non-violence and tolerance. But in recent years this narrative has been upended. In June 2012, violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted in western Myanmar, pointing to a growing divide between religious communities that before had received little attention from the outside world. Attacks on Muslims soon spread across the country, leaving hundreds dead, entire neighbourhoods turned to rubble, and tens of thousands of Muslims confined to internment camps. This violence, breaking out amid the passage to democracy, was spurred on by monks, pro-democracy activists and even politicians. In this gripping and deeply reported account, Francis Wade explores how the manipulation of identities by an anxious ruling elite has laid the foundations for mass violence, and how, in Myanmar’s case, some of the most respected and articulate voices for democracy have turned on the Muslim population at a time when the majority of citizens are beginning to experience freedoms unseen for half a century.
The Rise of Digital Repression
Title | The Rise of Digital Repression PDF eBook |
Author | Steven Feldstein |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 345 |
Release | 2021 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 0190057491 |
"A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Book" -- dust jacket.