4 Myanmar and Southeast Asia by Barbara Crossette
Supporters of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement, arrive for a campaign stop near Naypitaw, Myanmar, Mar. 5, 2012. They carry signs with her picture and that of her father, Aung San, founder of the Burmese army. (ADAM DEAN/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX)
hen Burma won independence from Britain exporter to the world. Intellectual life was lively and cosmo- in 1948 it was a devastated country tormented politan, and its universities in Mandalay and Rangoon were Wby multiple crises. Geographical misfortune had among Asia’s best. Rangoon was a busy port and transporta- placed this otherworldly Buddhist nation in the path of pow- tion hub for Southeast Asia, a bridge between East and West. erful armies in World War II as Japan battled Western allies An important boon, from the Burmese nationalists’ point for control of the strategically placed country. Its capital of view, was the British decision in 1937 to separate Burma city, Rangoon, was heavily damaged; the old royal capital from Britain’s larger Indian Empire, which then stretched of Mandalay had been extensively destroyed by incendiary from the borders of treacherous Afghanistan to the sultry bombs. Oil wells and bridges had been taken out. Long- lowlands and hills of what would become Bangladesh. The standing ethnic conflicts surfaced when peace returned, Burmese were thus guaranteed their own place on the map fracturing the nation from within. Aung San, the hero of and were spared the possible fate of being swallowed up Burmese independence and the great hope for national unity and renewal, was dead, assassinated at the age of 32 at the BARBARA CROSSETTE, a member of the Foreign Policy behest of a rival, barely six months before the modern coun- Association editorial board, is a former chief New York try’s birth. Times correspondent in Southeast Asia, South Asia and at the United Nations. In 2010 she won the Shorenstein Jour- And yet in spite of all this the nation still held great prom- nalism Award for her writing on Asia, presented jointly by ise. It was rich in agricultural land and forests of teak and the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Center at Stanford University, other hardwoods. There were still untapped oil and gas re- and the Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public sources, and generous deposits of gemstones and minerals. Policy at Harvard University, part of the Kennedy School Burma had been, and could have been again, a leading rice of Government.
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by their huge neighbor to the west after 1980’s, and the military would continue National League for Democracy (NLD) Indian independence in 1947. to rule directly until 2011. into active political participation after By the late 1950’s in Burma, there Tumultuous events have marked the years of persecution, severe jail terms were signs of national revival under a last two decades in Burma, renamed for colleagues and student supporters, constitutionally based democratic gov- Myanmar by a military government in and at least one attempt, in 2003, to kill ernment and its prime minister, U Nu. 1989 but still known widely as Burma, her as she toured the countryside during But that brief era ended in 1962, when the name the democracy leader and No- a spell of freedom amid long periods of the military dictator General Ne Win bel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu house arrest. seized power. Decades of repression Kyi vows to keep. It is a country in un- The U.S. responded to the recent re- and isolation under the Ne Win regime easy balance between new democratic forms by easing American sanctions. and its successors followed, as the gains and a still-strong military lurking An experienced diplomat, Derek Mitch- country virtually closed its doors to the behind the scenes. As Myanmar now ell, arrived in July as ambassador, the world, stifled national political activity changes course and bids for a place in first full-fledged American ambassa- and freedom of speech, took English the international mainstream, would- dor assigned to the country in almost a out of the education system and public be investors swarm its commercial quarter of a century. In November 2012, life and introduced madcap homegrown and government centers, and tourists in a historic gesture to signal American socialist economic policies that could are returning in larger numbers. Aung support for the transition to democracy, have been written off as farce if they San Suu Kyi, the leader of the politi- Barack Obama became the first Ameri - had not been so cruel in their effects cal opposition and the daughter of the can president ever to make an official on the country’s people. Ne Win would independence hero Aung San, won a visit to the country. dominate Burmese politics until the late seat in Parliament in 2012, leading her The military’s stunning decision to opt for wholesale transformation of CHINA this downtrodden and intellectually quarantined nation has been, without BHUTAN question, the most dramatic develop- 0 200 Miles ment in Southeast Asia in more than a 0 200 Kilometers decade, possibly a generation. As new INDIA ] [ policies are put in place, how this story Myitkyina . R will play out—or end—is a question n i BANGLADESH w that consumes the country’s neighbors, d n i CHINA h ( ) international organizations and foreign C Irrawaddy River governments, especially the U.S. HakHakhaha Who can help this nation recover? S MYANMAR a l Sagaing Mandalay w VIETNAM And how? e e n
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Taunggyi . Political evolution, Bay of Naypyitaw not yet a revolution Sittwe ( . ) Bengal (Akyab) LAOS Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations and a former foreign minister of South Korea well-acquaint- ed with Myanmar’s tortured history, re- Bago calls that when he went to the country Pathein Hpa’aHpa’an for the first time in his present capac- Yangon INDIAN MawlamMawlamyine THAILAND ity in 2008, he found a leadership that OCEAN had backed itself into a corner. Cyclone Mouths of the Nargis had struck the Irrawaddy Delta Irrawaddy with a wall of wind and water that left Dawei nearly 140,000 people dead and over C A two million displaced. The military M B government had shocked and infuriated Andaman O D the world when it barred all internation- Sea IA Mergui al emergency help, though this Asian Archipelago Gulf of disaster’s toll was second only to that ailand of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Myanmar, considered a pariah by , most democratic nations, had very few
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Children walk through the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (center) makes a traditional in Myanmar, where most houses in this village south of Pyapon were gesture as he walks through a refugee camp on a tour to view condi- destroyed. Many villages were hard to reach and aid was slow to tions in cyclone damaged areas and to meet with Myanmar govern- arrive. (MARTIN SASSE/LAIF/REDUX) ment officials. (STAN HONDA/AFP/POOL/GETTY IMAGES) friends. One of them was North Korea, under the doctrine of the “responsibil- in a good mood. “The amount which with which Myanmar had military and ity to protect” (R2P). David Cameron, we were able to mobilize was not that intelligence ties that included the shar- then the leader of the British political high,” Ban said. “It was less than $100 ing of some nuclear technology, to the opposition, called the decision to block million. In such circumstances that was distress of the U.S. and many other gov- aid “a crime against humanity.” It was very little. People were very angry.” But ernments. In 1983, North Korean agents Ban’s task to persuade the generals to it was, Ban said, “a good opening.” tried to assassinate the South Korean reconsider this heartless response— Events began to move quickly after President Chun Doo Hwan, who was and he had to negotiate his way into that initial crack appeared in the wall on an official visit in Rangoon. Chun the country by promising not to discuss of isolation. In 2009, Ban was invited survived, but 17 other South Korean of- politics. Human rights monitors had back and gave an open public lecture ficials died in the bombing. No South been denied entry to the country for attended by about 500 people, includ- Korean government leader visited years, and development organizations ing students and government ministers, Myanmar again until 2012. India, con- had been restricted by both the gener- he said. He was roundly criticized by cerned about Chinese influence, also als’ paranoia and stringent American outsiders for making the trip at all. He maintained close ties with Myanmar, sanctions. “It was very difficult be- answered his critics, many of them in to the dismay of human rights organiza- cause Mynamar was totally closed,” Western governments and human rights tions and the U.S., until the widespread Ban said in an interview at the United organizations, by saying that he had to persecution of democracy advocates in Nations in New York in August 2012. drive their message of openness home. the late 1980’s. Diplomatic relations be- “They were very much afraid of foreign Western nations had imposed crippling tween Myanmar and the U.S., as well pressure.” He said he told them: “Look, sanctions on the country, adding to its as other nations, were at best minimal. this is a totally unbearable tragedy for isolation, and many of the critics of the International reporters, many based in your country. You need to open up. You military regime wanted more punish- neighboring Thailand, were only occa- need to have some support from the in- ment, not diplomacy. sionally given visas to visit Myanmar. ternational community. I’m not going to “I needed to convey this message of Correspondents often relied on reports raise any political issues. I’m not going pressure to General Than Shwe and the from exile media, most notably The Ir- to ask for a meeting with Aung San Suu other military leadership there,” he said rawaddy, an online magazine published Kyi. I just want to meet the president in the interview. “If you really want the by exiled journalists in Thailand. and prime minister.” The president at message of democratization directed to In 2008, after Cyclone Nargis had the time was Than Shwe, a tough and the ears of President Than Shwe, then I left people starving and drowning in repressive general. His prime minister, have to be there.” ruined homes, the generals rejected or Thein Sein, appeared to Ban to be a In 2010, the Than Shwe govern- very sharply restricted aid from both in- more flexible officer. Thein Sein is now ment called a national election, widely ternational organizations and govern- Myanmar’s reformist president. viewed as flawed. It was boycotted by ments, and left food, shelter materials After the leadership finally agreed to Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD, the party and technical help drifting on foreign allow assistance to be funneled into the that had won a national election in 1990 ships off the coast, unable to land re- country through neighboring Thailand, but was never permitted to govern. Not lief supplies. Bernard Kouchner, then Ban organized a donors’ pledging con- surprisingly, the 2010 election handed a the foreign minister of France, hinted ference in Yangon, as the military had decisive victory to the military-backed at possible international intervention renamed Rangoon. Donors were not Union Solidarity and Development
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Party (USDP). Nevertheless, the gen- the Burmese army. A year later, in July erals called the election a transition to 2012, Thein Sein sent a vice president democracy and, a week later, released to join Aung San Suu Kyi in placing Aung San Suu Kyi. She also got an flowers on Aung San’s tomb on the 65th Internet connection. Since then, press anniversary of his death. The ceremony censorship has been lifted and the rules was reported by government media. on peaceful public assembly have been As for Aung San Suu Kyi—who in relaxed. The names of thousands of 2010 told Vijay Nambiar, the special foreigners and exiles barred from en- representative of the United Nations tering the country have been removed secretary-general for Myanmar, that “a from a blacklist. The government has parody of democracy is infinitely worse acknowledged publicly, moreover, that than an outright dictatorship”—her the NLD was indeed the clear winner of views began to change after her meet- the 1990 vote. ing with the president, according to the Thein Sein, the former prime minis- envoy, an experienced former Indian ter, resigned from the military and was diplomat who had earlier been Ban Ki- sworn in as president in March 2011 as moon’s chief of staff. head of a nominally civilian govern- “The next time I met her,” Nambiar Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San ment. Thousands of prisoners have been Suu Kyi poses with President Thein Sein be- said in an interview in August 2012, released since then and, although the fore their meeting in Myanmar’s capital of “she told me that she trusted him.” But Thailand-based Assistance Association Naypyitaw. Her father’s portrait hangs in Nambiar also said that Aung San Suu of Political Prisoners-Burma still had the background. (AP/CORBIS) Kyi made clear this trust did not extend several hundred names on its list at the to the military as a whole. “It’s not as end of 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi and the people refer to universally as simply if she’s changed her overall approach,” U.S. agree that the majority of detainees The Lady—made the bold political de- he said. “Even today she carries a very are now free, and many have resumed cision to accept the invitation. People strong sense of skepticism if not out- political activity. close to the event said that after a rather right disbelief about these changes that In August 2011, in a step that has formal meeting in Thein Sein’s office, are taking place. But she’s decided to since proved to be a political water- the unlikely pair went to lunch in the work with it and try to open more and shed, President Thein Sein invited presidential residence, where the atmo- more doors.” Aung San Suu Kyi to a meeting in the sphere softened as Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi was also aware relatively new capital city of Naypy- was greeted warmly by the president’s that among democracy advocates there idaw, 205 miles north of the old capital, wife, and could see a large portrait of was an uneasy feeling that an indefinite Rangoon. After some hesitation, Aung Aung San, her father, prominently dis- political boycott could marginalize them San Suu Kyi—whom the Burmese played. He was, after all, the founder of and be self-defeating. Nambiar said that through decades of tension and uncer- tainty, “things were difficult for civil society organizations, but there were a few which had managed in those diffi- cult times to carve out a little space for themselves. They said it would be a pity if they were to lose completely even the little bit of space we’ve got now.” When by-elections for the national Parliament were scheduled for April 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD decided to take part. Around the coun- try, 45 seats in the 664-seat bicameral legislature were to be filled. The NLD won 43 of the 44 it contested, taking 66 percent of the national vote in a land- slide finish. Domestic and foreign poll observers concluded that the voting had been generally free and fair. Aung San Suu Kyi greets supporters during a campaign stop in Naypitaw, Myanmar, on In Yangon now, the makeshift of- March 5, 2012. (ADAM DEAN/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX) fices of other, nascent political parties
48 MYANMAR 4 and advocacy groups are humming with their news conferences, sometimes sit- reserved for them and filled by appoint- activity as they look ahead to impor- ting cramped on floors in stifling rooms ment—and the military-backed USDP tant national elections in 2015. Former where air-conditioning is an unheard of most of the rest, with some seats set prisoners who had been arrested in luxury. Tropical Myanmar is disastrous- aside for ethnic minorities. But if num- a roundup of students and other dis- ly short of energy. bers are small, the symbolism is great. sidents in 1988—calling themselves The NLD still accounts for less than Myanmar now has a bona fide, credi- “the 88ers”—have formed civic action seven percent of the seats in Parliament, ble political opposition for the first time groups. Eager young journalists jam with the military holding 25 percent— in 50 years. n A fractured country in search of unity or centuries, what became When Aung San, an ethnic Burman, all, there are thought to be more than Fknown as the nation of Burma was returned from successful negotiations 100 ethnic groups, many of them terri- battered not only by periods of disunity with the British in January 1947 as head torial and rooted deeply in local popula- and civil war among numerous small of a transitional government and with tions with their own languages. kingdoms and ethnic clans but also by the promise of independence within a Aung San set out to reach agreements foreign invasions, including a Mongol year, dangerous minority disaffections with ethnic minorities at a conference in attack by Kublai Khan that captured the were high on his list of priorities. He 1947 in the Shan state, a project called temple city of Pagan. In the 19th centu- also faced political challenges from Panglong I, named after the site of the ry, the British took over the country step Communists who sought to steer away meetings. Current leaders, including by step, culminating in 1885 with the from close ties with Western capitalist Aung San Suu Kyi and some govern- capture of Mandalay, the royal capital, nations. ment officials, are talking about con- and with it the Court of Ava, Burma’s Ethnically, Burmans are the coun- vening a Panglong II to pick up where last kingdom. try’s largest group, with about 68 per- the assassination of Aung San and the In his evocative personal journey cent of the population. The Shan peo- military’s rejection of the reconciliation through the Burmese past, The River ple of the northeast comprise another process left off. Until early in this cen- of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma, 9 percent; the Karen in the southeast, tury, the Burmese—and, significantly, Thant Myint-U, arguably the coun- 7 percent; the Rakhine (also known as Burman—army and government opted try’s leading writer in English (and the Arakanese) on the Bay of Bengal, 4 per- for a military solution to ethnic rebel- grandson of U Thant, the only Asian cent; ethnic Chinese, 3 percent; Mon, 2 lions. The army’s campaigns have been United Nations secretary-general be- percent; and other smaller but important marked by internationally condemned fore Ban Ki-moon) describes the ar- communities such as the Chin, Kachin, human rights abuses, the further alien- rival of Brigadier George Stuart White, Karenni and Wa account for the rest. In ation of minorities and the flight of the British officer who sailed up the Ir- rawaddy to Mandalay aboard the steam- ship Kathleen to take the surrender of King Thibaw. “By late November, the weather in Upper Burma is nearly always perfect, with cool nights and warm days of cloudless blue skies,” Thant Myint-U wrote. “Brigadier White, standing on the deck as the Kathleen came within sight of Ava, wrote that ‘the sun was pouring a flood of golden light on the last hours of Burman independence.’” Ethnic divisions and armed rebel- lions did not begin or end with Brit- ish rule. Many Burmese blamed the British for favoring one ethnic group, Female recruits of the Kachin Independent Army (KIA), do early morning training with fake the Karen, strengthening their resolve wooden rifles in a military camp in May 2012. Fighting between the Burmese army and the and adding to the resentment of others. KIA continues in 2012. (Q. SAKAMAKI/REDUX)
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cause of the political influence of the monks, experts say. When local em- ployees of United Nations relief agen- cies tried to help, three were arrested. They were pardoned several months later by the president. The full story of the extremely vio- lent confrontations is the subject of an- other Human Rights Watch report, The Government Could Have Stopped This: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State. In response to an international outcry, the government established a commission to investigate the violence and has opened the region to inspection by outsiders, including American diplomats and a delegation Rescue workers clear debris from destroyed houses following days of sectarian violence from the Organization of Islamic Co- in Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, on June 16, 2012. The UN operation. warned of “immense hardship” faced by thousands displaced by rioting. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES ) Rakhine/Arakan state has two many people into Thailand, China and and would be freed. The first to be dis- groups of Muslims, one whose fami- the West. charged were reunited with their fami- lies trace their ancestry to years before The Panglong I agreement, designed lies to great fanfare. 1824, when the British took over the by Aung San to be widely appealing, Religion has not been a major factor region and annexed it to India, and a promised ethnic states considerable au- in most of Myanmar’s separatist move- second and much larger group whose tonomy within the Burmese union and ments, though a few ethnic groups have families migrated from what is now the right to leave it after 10 years if the large Christian populations. An excep- Bangladesh (originally part of the Brit- people wanted out. The writer Thant tion has been the Rakhine (formerly ish Indian state of Bengal) after 1824. Myint-U (now a presidential adviser) Arakan) state, where Muslims and Bud- Since independence in 1948, the Bur- called Burma “the only British posses- dhists have clashed in deadly confronta- mese government has denied the latter sion to gain independence with the op- tions over the past year. Myanmar was group citizenship, continuing to see tion for a future breakup built into the for many centuries, and still is, an over- them as a refugee population that has no constitution.” whelmingly Theravada Buddhist nation, place in Burmese, particularly Burman Military attempts to quell ethnic dis- a school of Buddhism also practiced in Buddhist, society. Bangladesh, though contents go on. Human Rights Watch in Thailand, Laos and Sri Lanka. Burmese populated by fellow Muslim Bengalis, its World Report 2012 said that fight- monks have been a strong presence in will not admit them. “There are almost a ing had actually spread in 2011, in par- political life, risking death, beatings and million people who are stateless,” Nam- ticular with the Kachin Independence imprisonment to oppose the military and biar said. “Even Daw Aung San Suu Army, and continued through 2012. support democracy. Buddhist monks, Kyi finds that she cannot come out very Tens of thousands of civilians have however, can also be nationalistic, even strongly on this,” he said. “She talks of been reported displaced in recent battles violent, in defense of their religion and having laws which are in keeping with with the military, which has not lost its culture, which they see as defining the international human rights standards, reputation for brutality. nation-state—a phenomenon also seen but not beyond that.” In Washington “The Burmese military continues in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka’s long in September 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi to violate international humanitarian civil war with Tamil insurgents. stuck to that position, not offering any law through the use of anti-personnel When long-simmering tensions immediate promises to the Rohingyas. landmines, extrajudicial killings, forced boiled over into violence in 2012 in Ra- By the end of the year, however, she labor, torture, beatings, and pillaging of khine/Arakan state, Muslims known as was calling for military intervention, property,” Human Rights Watch said. Rohingyas were attacked after reports according to The Irrawaddy. The mili- “Sexual violence against women and spread that a Buddhist woman had been tary, however, is dominated by Burman girls remains a serious problem and raped and killed. According to local re- Buddhists. perpetrators are rarely brought to jus- ports, Buddhists had fueled the violence Josef Silverstein, professor emeri- tice. The army continues to actively with the revenge murder of 10 Rohing- tus at Rutgers University and a life- recruit and use child soldiers.” In Sep- yas. Scores of people were killed. Yet long scholar of Myanmar who early in tember 2012, the government said that many Burmese politicians pulled back his career studied and later lectured at child soldiers were being identified from condemnation of Buddhists be- Mandalay University, said in an inter-
50 MYANMAR 4 view that the lack of national unity is the biggest question hanging over the country’s future. “This is not a homogenous society,” he said. “Although we think of it as a Buddhist country, and we think of the Burmese as the dominant people in it, nevertheless there are pockets in the border regions, particularly down the western frontier, which share both land and sea between the peoples of Burma and the peoples of the Indian subcon- tinent. On the east side, particularly in the northeast, where the Shan and the Karen and others have lived for so long and have fought off or resisted integra- Instead of modern skyscrapers one sees worn-down buildings in Myanmar’s capital city of tion and acceptance, you see that the Yangon, March 2011. (JUSTIN MOTT/REDUX) country has been in tension for as long as people have been keeping records.” uct (GNP) and a 1.7 percent rise in per the government “is pushing ahead so The government has only recently capita gross domestic product (GDP). fast that foreign advisers here on the formed a peace commission to reopen Against this, he acknowledged, were ground say it risks overloading its the issue of national reconciliation, but the drag factors of limited government rickety institutions.” the creation of a federal system of state funds; the need for more aid, grants and The leadership hopes to lure back governments for ethnic regions is not loans from abroad; and the need for in- exiles who possess skills gained study- seen as politically possible. “As long creased investment, both domestic and ing and working in more-developed as the government refuses to adopt the foreign. countries. Some of them are returning principles of equality amongst all peo- Important, the president said, was on exploratory trips. Some decide to ple, and treats different ones in different shrinking the government’s role in the come back to stay, but many conclude ways, you do not have people thinking economy and encouraging privatiza- sadly that there is still little immediate of themselves as part of the country,” tion, starting with communications, hope of finding jobs or creating new Silverstein said. “People must be able energy, forestry, health and financial companies in fields such as information to say, Yes, I’m a Burmese; I am also sectors. He acknowledged that open- technology or new energy systems— a Muslim; I am also this, that or the ing the economy and framing develop- sectors where the country desperately other,” he said. The primacy of national ment plans down to the township and needs their skills—until legal protec- identity is the “absent glue” needed to village level will require the help of tions and clearer investment codes are hold Burma together and prevent re- nongovernmental experts as well as in- in place. Reacting to foot-dragging from peated upheavals, he said. ternational organizations. The United within his government, Thein Sein has Nations Population Fund, for example, dismissed ministers and other officials Thein Sein’s will help with a national census, col- considered hard-liners standing in the ambitious agenda lecting the data crucial in development way of reforms. Thein Sein, who was elected president planning. Aung San Suu Kyi caused a stir when by the military-dominated Parliament, The president said that ministries she warned in remarks at a World Eco- not in a popular vote, had been in of- will be expected to review and reform nomic Forum session in Thailand in the fice for about 15 months when he gave their fiscal operations, with an empha- spring of 2012 against “reckless opti- a major address in June 2012 to offi- sis on spending with a bottom-up rather mism” among investors. Nambiar, the cials from national, state and local lev- than top-down approach to develop- United Nations envoy, agrees. “People els of government—a kind of “state of ment. A minimum wage will be estab- are now going to put a lot of money in, the union” pep talk. He started with a lished and environmental protection but how much of it can Myanmar ab- self-congratulatory summation of his introduced in project planning. Special sorb?” he asked, pointing to situations accomplishments and then turned to economic zones will be created. Trade in other countries where a sudden influx the economy and national development. laws and practices are being aligned of uncoordinated aid led to extra costs, His goals soared, but his own assess- with international norms, he said. The crippling corruption, competition among ment of what needed to be done to reach list went on and on. donors, bureaucratic hurdles and quar- them was sobering. By 2016, he said, Jason Szep, in one of a series of rels with local people over priorities. his government projected a 7.7 percent excellent special reports on Myan- Furthermore, a sudden influx of aid annual increase in gross national prod- mar for Reuters in 2012, wrote that and investment money—and the for-
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eigners who come with it—often leads tural land, which is the key to restoring million to 60 million people (estimates to catastrophic increases in property a stronger export trade in that sector vary) is 65 years of age, low for a re- prices and rents, and families see liv- as well as the confidence of rural peo- gion where the average stands at 71. Its ing costs rise while wages stagnate. In ple. There are some ominous signs of infant mortality rate, at 51 deaths for Yangon, new luxury tourist hotels, con- trouble ahead. A new agriculture policy every 1,000 live births, is almost double dominiums, serviced apartment blocks suggests consolidating small farms into the regional average. Maternal mortal- and garishly ostentatious mansions are plantation-sized agribusinesses for the ity is above Southeast Asian levels. already rising over genteel avenues sake of “efficiency.” Land seizures for Yet the population has a high litera- shaded by old trees. Some magnificent, large-scale food production and other cy rate of 92 percent, according to the if decrepit, examples of colonial-era industries have provoked organized re- World Bank and United Nations agen- (but uniquely Burmese-inspired) archi- sistance. Recently in the Sagaing region cies. This would indicate a strong inter- tecture are threatened by demolition. At in the northwest, thousands have joined est in education, fostered by families this writing, a group of lawyers is orga- protests over plans to give farmland to who often rely on simple schools run nizing to try to save an historic court- an expanding Chinese-run copper mine. by Buddhist monks and nuns. house that a Chinese developer plans to Outside of urban areas, the government In one of Yangon’s poorest neighbor- raze and replace with a hotel. owns virtually all the land, and the mili- hoods, a 70-year-old monk who opened In his reporting in Myanmar, Szep tary has enjoyed a free hand in dictating a school for boys (and a few girls) 20 found government ministries “inexpe- its use for its own financial interests. years ago demonstrates how monaster- rienced and thinly staffed” while taking “Remember we’re talking about ies have become alternative centers for on huge workloads and trying to learn basically an agricultural country,” said both education and health services. The on the job. The government knows Silverstein, the historian. “It is not an monk, U Margainda, and his monastic there is a problem created by decades industrial state. The economy is domi- community educate and care for about of isolation from the global economy. nated by the military, who have taken 100 resident children, providing not Szep quoted a vice president saying that the land from the people and distrib- only schooling and room and board but applicants for government positions uted it amongst themselves or put also health care, all paid for by dona- may soon face tests of their skills and themselves in management positions tions from domestic and foreign Bud- qualifications, an indication that this is to benefit from whatever success hap- dhists, many from Thailand, Vietnam something novel. pens there. So the first change has to and Japan, as well as from various other One long-term uncertainty surrounds begin around the question of property,” donors. Volunteer doctors from Euro- how the government will deal with he said. “Can an individual pass that pean nongovernmental organizations property rights, particularly on agricul- property on to his family? Can a person (NGOs) run a German-built clinic in buy and sell property? Unless there is a the monastery compound that is well rule that applies to everybody, and the enough equipped for simple surgical courts—if they ever get them function- procedures. ing properly—will honor that rule, I “We teach them their letters and don’t think there’s any way for Burma numbers and tell them stories,” U Mar- to come together.” An irreparably cor- gainda said of his pupils, poor children rupted judicial system leaves no legal whose parents have brought them to the recourse for the dispossessed. “As a re- monastery because they cannot feed sult, in a country that is rich in natural them or meet the hidden costs of even resources, people are not going to do “free” public schools. The children can more than try to harvest what little they remain in the monastery to high school have and sell the surplus or hide the evi- level, but even if they leave early, as dence so they have enough to feed their most do, they can achieve reasonably It’s a really remarkable story, families,” he said. good basic literacy and mathematical “maybe the most positive develop- Myanmar is poor, with the lowest knowledge. This pattern of monastery ment we’ve seen globally... We’ve annual per capita income in Southeast education is found to one degree or been alienated from each other Asia, at $1,950, close to Cambodia’s another, depending on local resources, for too long. I think there’s a lot $2,080, but roughly half that of the Phil- across the country. The parallel educa- of learning to do and that’s what I ippines ($3,980) and less than a quar- tion system, rare in a nation so poor, has intend to do as ambassador.” ter of Thailand’s $8,190, according to hopefully created a trainable youthful —Derek Mitchell, the 2012 World Population Data Sheet population ready to fill jobs as develop- U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar from the Population Reference Bureau, ment progresses. Universal education a nongovernmental research organiza- and high literacy rates in East Asia and www.GreatDecisions.org/DVD tion in Washington, D.C. Southeast Asia played a central role in Life expectancy for the country’s 55 the creation of “tiger” economies. n
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tavorn wrote in The Nation. “Burma must integrate with asean and tap into The neighborhood the grouping’s dynamism and abundant resources.” and the world Beyond asean, no nations have as much interest in expanding in Myan- yanmar, a mainland Southeast region and beyond there are questions mar as China and India, two of the three MAsian country slightly smaller about whether the government and bu- largest importers of the country’s com- than Texas (or a little larger than France), reaucratic machinery can meet the chal- modities, including natural gas, timber borders Thailand, Laos, China, India and lenges of the task. products and gemstones. Thailand, Bangladesh. Its ocean coastlines are in Nambiar, the United Nations special which takes about 37 percent of Myan- the southwest, on the Andaman Sea and representative, said that “asean has mar’s exports, ranks first, China second the Bay of Bengal, facing South Asia. placed a lot of expectations on Myan- with 19 percent and India third at 12.3 To the east, the country is more closely mar,” especially given that its chair- percent, according to U.S. calculations. aligned politically and culturally across manship year will lead up to the formal But import and export figures are only land borders with Southeast Asian neigh- establishment in 2015 of the asean part of the motivation for China and In- bors, especially Thailand. Economic Community (an echo of the dia to expand their influence in Myan - Myanmar joined the Association early 27-member European Union [EU] mar, which both see as strategic. China of Southeast Asian Nations, known as and other regional groupings). “Myan- has for many years sought an overland asean, in 1997. The decision by ase- mar will have to polish up its act,” route to open water that bypasses the an’s then nine member states—Brunei, Nambiar said. “It will have to rise to crowded and pirate-prone Straits of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the full level of leadership.” Malacca. India fears that direct Chinese the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand That will entail staging important access to the sea in the Bay of Bengal and Vietnam—to welcome Myanmar conferences and other events that will could pose a security threat. into a regional organization whose na- tax its corps of officials who are inex- As India prepares for national elec- tions are theoretically civilian-led, with perienced with dealing with intergov- tions in 2014, it has been bogged down popular representation and free-enter- ernmental issues and practices. An early in economic and political crises at the prise economies, was controversial in- test will come in 2013, when Myanmar national level, on top of renewed armed ternationally. Myanmar obviously met will be host to a major regional sports unrest in the seven states of the remote none of those qualifications. event, the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games. Indian Northeast bordering Myanmar “For 15 years since joining asean, On the diplomatic front, asean has reg- (and ongoing separatism in Kashmir as Burma was considered an albatross ular meetings with nonmember partner well as a Maoist guerrilla war in the in- around asean’s neck until the rapid nations such as the U.S., Japan, China, terior of the country). But India still has transformation began,” Kavi Chong- Australia and the EU. “No doubt, Burma big hopes of increasing its presence in kittavorn, a leading Thai journalist has a lot of catching up to do,” the Thai Myanmar, diplomatically and commer- wrote in The Nation newspaper in analyst and journalist Kavi Chongkit- cially, after decades of leaving its options Bangkok in February 2012. Myanmar may not have been the only question- able candidate for asean over the years. Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were and still are essentially one-par- ty states. Singapore had a token op- position, Indonesia was ruled for de- cades by a general in civilian clothes and Thailand’s army has been a force in politics for generations. But the generals were of a different order altogether. Now their political reforms, and the more open attitude of President Thein Sein, have eased some of the awkwardness about their place in the organization. asean, which recently celebrated its 45th anniver- Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean) hold hands for a group sary, has taken a gamble on allowing photo during the opening ceremony of the 20th asean Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, April 3, 2012. From left, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesia’s Vice President Myanmar to hold the chairmanship of Boediono, Laos’ Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib the organization for 2014. Around the Razak and Myanmar President Thein Sein. (AP/APICHART WEERAWONG/CORBIS)
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open, balancing good relations with the from Yunnan Province into Southeast Kavi Chongkittavorn has written generals with support for democracy. Asia that would ultimately meet lines that Myanmar’s worries about Chinese “For 25 years, India walked a tight- from Myanmar to Tavoy. Further to the dominance have been evident since the rope in Myanmar between the need to north, on the Arakan/Rakhine coast, con- country opted to join asean in the late build relations with an important neigh- struction is in progress on another deep- 1990s. “At the 1998 asean meeting in bor that was also a strategic gateway to water port linked to oil and gas pipelines Hanoi, [then] Burmese Foreign Minis- Southeast and East Asia, and its con- that could transport Middle Eastern oil ter U Min Ung told his colleagues that science,” an editorial in the influential directly across Myanmar to southern the reason why Burma joined asean Indian newspaper The Hindu said in China. In a race to match or gain on sig- was that it did not want to join the ‘other June 2012, after a visit to Myanmar nificant Chinese advantages, India has side,’” Kavi Chongkittavorn wrote. “He by India’s Prime Minister Manmohan been constructing a port on the Arakan/ did not mention the name but it was Singh. “Aung San Suu Kyi was the dis- Rakhine coast at Sittwe, which will con- well understood as China.” comfiting reminder of that conscience.” nect to the Indian state of Mizoram by In September 2011, as ties with the It is time to choose sides, the paper road or waterways, opening the Indian West and the U.S. in particular began to suggested. “New Delhi still has a lot of Northeast to the sea. In October 2012, improve, President Thein Sein sudden- catching up to do on this front.” Reuters wrote that Japan had also joined ly suspended work on the $3.6 billion Myanmar’s leading trading partners the industrial development and port- Myitsone dam, a Chinese project on the are also the most ambitious investors in building competition, with large projects Irawaddy River in northern Myanmar, infrastructure, such as roads, railways, near Yangon and in the south. which would have been the largest hy- ports and pipelines. Thant Myint-U de- It is not an overstatement to say that droelectric dam in the country, and one scribed a number of these large projects projects such as these, if completed as of seven planned by the Chinese. Op- in his latest book, Where China Meets planned, will fundamentally alter the ponents of the project notably included India: Burma and the New Crossroads face and place of Myanmar in Southeast a nongovernmental organization, the of Asia, a work based on extensive Asia, making it a major transit route for Burma Rivers Network, which warned travels along Myanmar’s borders. He the benefit of richer neighboring coun - that the Myitsone dam alone would de- wrote, for example, about colossal de- tries. What that could do to Myanmar’s stroy 60 villages and displace 15,000 velopment plans for the southwest Te- culture and environment are questions people, while the electricity generated nasserim coast, along the narrow south- already being debated. The steady en- would go directly to China. ern isthmus shared with Thailand. On croachment of Chinese businesses, big Moreover, the dam was being con- that coast at Tavoy, south of Moulmein, and small, private and governmental, structed in Kachin state, which has Thailand and Myanmar are planning a into areas along the Burmese-Yunnan the most intransigent ethnic separatist huge industrial complex that will in- border has been a factor for years. The movement in the country. The Kachin clude a deep-sea port, steel and petro- expansion of Chinese economic influ- Independence Organization had warned chemical factories, an oil refinery and ence, often in league with moneyed the Burmese government in 2011 that tourist resorts “on a giant scale.” interests, drug traffickers or separatist if work continued on this dam, a civil China already has plans to tap into ethnic groups, is of serious concern to war would restart in the region, which this development, building railway lines the government. subsequently happened. n A new era for Washington he most dramatic changes in the years following the imposition of mission in the country while also sup- Tdecades for crafting American poli- martial law, the abrogation of the 1990 porting a full United Nations Develop- cies on Myanmar took place in 2012 in election results and the detention of ment Programme (UNDP) presence response to the rapidly evolving reforms Aung San Suu Kyi. there. UNDP projects had been sharply instituted by President Thein Sein. But In the autumn of 2011, the Obama curtailed because of American pressure big challenges and potential delays in administration decided that Thein while sanctions were in place. Ameri- activating the new policies lie ahead. Sein’s reforms were meaningful enough can NGOs will be free to work in Myan- American approaches began to shift to warrant a significant gesture from mar on such issues as democracy build- in 2009, when, under President Obama, Washington. In December 2011, Hill- ing, health (including HIV-AIDS) and the U.S. launched a new policy of “prin- ary Clinton became the first secretary education. Several are already there, cipled engagement,” including direct, of state in 56 years to visit Myanmar. including World Vision International, senior-level dialogue with Myanmar. Since then, Washington has been sus- an American-founded, Christian relief That marked a break from a period of pending or easing selected sanctions and development organization with frozen diplomatic relations and punitive and is reestablishing a U.S. Agency global reach. Others are planning to sanctions put in place in the 1990’s, in for International Development (usaid ) open offices.
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In July 2012, Robert D. Hormats, tional hotels, and currency exchanges of protectionism on the Burmese side the American undersecretary of state are a monopoly of crony banks whose as foreigners begin to move into the for economic growth, energy and the unqualified clerks make the simplest national economy. environment, who recently returned transactions nightmarish in their over- “President Thein Sein and his eco- from a visit to Myanmar, summarized zealous search for counterfeit bills—an nomic advisers heard the criticisms— the current American policies in a pro- admission that there must be plenty of from both inside and outside the coun- gram at the Center for Strategic and them around. try—of the first investment law passed International Studies in Washington. Hormats said that U.S. authorities by the Parliament,” Zwenig said in an Hormats was the first high-ranking U.S. will ask potential American investors interview. “They listened and came out official in his field to visit the country for “full disclosure of what the compa- with a much improved version. They and meet with a range of political and nies are doing, and with whom.” The passed the first test. Now we have to economic leaders to lay out American administration has compiled (and re- see the regulations and the implemen- expectations and Washington’s guiding cently lengthened) a list of individually tation. But so far, so good.” motto of “action for action.” targeted Burmese with whom Ameri- American financial services and in- The Burmese “see an op- vestors are now free to move portunity to diversify their into Myanmar, pending a re- economic relationships,” he view and comment process, said, and Washington “wants according to new Obama American companies to go administration rules. As of in,” believing that they can fall 2012, these changes contribute to reforms. Hor- represent only an easing of mats stressed that the admin- sanctions through presiden- istration is pressing Myan- tial waivers. The sanctions mar to become more trans- themselves remain in place, parent in all its business rela- pending action by Congress, tions, which are now largely and can be reinstated. With hidden in secrecy and mired the reelection of President in corruption, and to abide Obama, widely welcomed by the standards of the Ex- by the Burmese, according tractive Industries Transpar- to the local media, and his ency Initiative, a group of trip to the country, progress more than 30 nations head- CLEMENT/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL on cementing relations with quartered in Norway. Myanmar is likely to increase. Given that much potential foreign cans cannot do business because of Two American moves late in 2012 investment is likely to be focused on their record of human rights violations, will be of special importance to Myan- energy projects, of particular concern antireform activities, discrimination or mar. Congressionally imposed bars to to American policymakers is the Myan- harmful actions against ethnic minori- U.S. support for development loans by mar Oil and Gas Enterprise, which ties or links to North Korea. the World Bank and other international controls allocation of oil and gas ex- In the fall of 2012, Myanmar took lending institutions have been lifted, ploration. The American oil company two steps important to the U.S. A new and a blanket ban on imports to the Chevron is already in the country, in investment law was finally passed in U.S. is being relaxed. partnership with Total, the French en- Parliament after much debate and a Zwenig said that continuing the im- ergy corporation with large American number of revisions to meet the concerns port ban on Burmese goods would have investment. Future American compa- about transparency, clarity in the rules hindered the development of small and nies wanting to enter Myanmar will be and protection for outsiders. American medium-sized industries and thus the subject to a 60-day reporting period to diplomats said that the government was expansion of much needed employ- provide impact statements on environ- also pledging to end military purchases ment and economic development gen- mental, property and labor issues. and other ties to North Korea. erally. But implementation will take Energy companies are not the only Frances A. Zwenig, counselor time, and there are other hurdles and American corporations interested in at the U.S.- asean Business Coun- unknowns. Myanmar. Billboards for Coca-Cola cil in Washington, who has played a One of these is the difficulty small and Pepsi were up before the first can leading role in connecting potential businesses on both sides may have or bottle reached consumers. Visa and American investors to Burmese who in meeting all the reporting require- MasterCard are negotiating partner- want to work with them, welcomed ments—“a lot of paperwork”—de- ships with local banks. Credit card use the revised investment law, which ap- manded by the U.S., Zwenig said, add- is still largely unknown outside interna- pears to guard against a potential wave ing that such smaller partnerships are
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and how democracy works. They teach themselves English, he said, recount- ing how his own son gained reason- able fluency by watching episodes of the American television show Friends. Burmese students look for connections while they plot ways to find the means to study abroad. “Everybody is on Facebook,” a young woman said. She is looking for an American university that might give her a scholarship. Throughout the developing world, the politicization and precipitous de- cline of universities, dating to colonial times, may have created barriers to economic, political, legal and social A motorbike passes near the road sign of the Dawei Deep Sea Project Plan in Dawei progress. In Myanmar, this is felt acute- Township, Myanmar, on January 28, 2012. Italian-Thai Development, Thailand’s largest construction firm, has started building a $8.6 billion deep-sea port and industrial estate ly because people remember how good on the Andaman Sea coast for the Myanmar government. (NYEIN CHAN NAING/EPA/CORBIS) higher education was until the 1960s. In May 2012, U Myint, a former crucial to developing a new economy. a prohibitive $3,500 to $5,000 a few academic and now economic adviser For large American companies, accus- years ago. The country needs new hos- to the president, published an “Open tomed to fulfilling reporting demands, pitals; foreigners are urged to get on letter on restoring the University of the drawback may be different: finding a flight to Bangkok or Singapore if a Yangon to its former glory,” sending a partners who have not been implicated serious illness strikes. frisson of panic through the old guard, in the repression and corruption of But nothing tops the list of needs who made suppression of students and military rule. more consistently in conversations monks a high priority. Rangoon (Yan- “The hindrance, the challenge now, with young Burmese than educational gon) University, once one of Asia’s will be finding the right partners to assistance, a point also made by Aung most prestigious academic institutions, partner with, and those are not so eas- San Suu Kyi on her visit to the U.S. in had been closed and left to decay physi- ily found,” said Zwenig, who is also September. Burmese want this to be a cally and academically by the military, president of the U.S.- asean Busi- top priority in future American devel- as students were scattered to far-flung ness Council Institute Inc., the educa- opment aid. At the American Center institutes around the region where—the tional arm of the organization. “On the in Yangon, a branch of the American intent was—they could not easily con- Burmese side, it’s going to be rare to embassy that high school graduates, gregate. Now Burmese officials, en- find someone who doesn’t have some college students and adults can join for gaged in a comprehensive review of the issues, and so doing due diligence is about $6 a year, Burmese come to find moribund education system, are turn- going to be the first order of business. books of all kinds, DVDs of films and ing to universities in the U.S. to help That’s going to take time.” television programs, information about bring new life to Burmese institutions. Moreover, she added: “Now we’re the U.S. (as well as about Myanmar it- The changes under way in Myan- seeing pushback from some of the peo- self) and a chance to join a variety of mar began at around the same time as ple on the Burmese side because they clubs to practice their English skills. At the Obama administration was articu- are worried about their rice bowl being the center, young people spoke to me lating a policy defined as a “pivot to taken away from them.” about their overcrowded classrooms de- Asia.” This was, American officials There is almost no end to the list of void of reference books or modern tech- explained, a plan to rebalance policies what Myanmar needs and only outsid- nological teaching aids, and of teachers and budgets that were heavily focused ers can supply, at least initially. Roads who squelched independent thinking on the Middle East and West Asia, in and public transportation services are and even the asking of questions. large part because of wars in Iraq and antiquated and in serious disrepair. Talking about what the country Afghanistan, and concerns about Ira- Telecommunication services and equip- needed, a university student replied nian nuclear programs. The uprisings ment are unreliable, in short supply and without hesitation, “Teacher training.” of the “Arab Spring” and a civil war bizarrely expensive. Burmese say that Another, a recent high school gradu- in Syria only intensified that focus on the shell of a cell phone alone can cost ate, said, “Books. The Burmese love the region, and the concentration on the several hundred dollars, and the SIM books.” A former teacher said in an role of the North Atlantic Treaty Orga- card is about as costly—though down interview that the young are “hungry” nization (NATO) common defense sys- from black market prices as high as for knowledge about the outside world tem Asia was, in the administration’s
56 MYANMAR 4 view, being to some extent neglected have Cobra Gold, which is the largest by Washington, although the U.S. is a [military] exercise in the world.” The Pacific as well as an Atlantic power. Obama administration appears ready Catharin Dalpino, a specialist on to include Burma as an observer in the U.S.-Asian relations, a former deputy as- next round of exercises, though a for- sistant secretary of state for democracy mal agreement was not yet in place at and the author of Deferring Democracy: the time of this writing. Promoting Openness in Authoritarian “Cobra Gold began as a U.S.-Thai Regimes, said in an interview that the project but now includes numerous pivot to Asia is not a new idea. “This Asian nations as participants or observ- is actually something the Pentagon has ers,” Dalpino said. “And Cobra Gold been quietly pursuing for several years. is no longer just military. There is also It’s just that it’s now gone across the joint planning and training for natural agencies and been accepted by the State disasters and humanitarian missions, Department and the White House.” which has already paid off. When the Despite criticism in the U.S. that 2004 tsunami came along, you had the a refocus on Asia is little more than a structure for cooperation.” cover for a greater American military The intersection of American inter- presence in the Pacific and a direct ests and human rights concerns often challenge to China, the policy has been poses the most difficult point of depar- largely welcomed in Southeast Asia, ture for discussions on foreign policy in even Vietnam, where Secretary of De- the U.S., where steps to ease sanctions fense Leon Panetta recently visited Cam or other restrictions in dealing with U.S. President Barack Obama acknowl- Ranh Bay, an American wartime base what many would consider unaccept- edges the crowd before speaking at Yangon the Vietnamese seem eager to allow the able governments are met with moral University’s Convocation Hall in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov. 19, 2012. (PABLO MARTINEZ U.S. to use again. In part the interest objections in Congress and public opin- MONSIVAIS/AP/CORBIS) of the Southeast Asian governments is ion. Myanmar is in that place now. dren with non-Burmese citizenship. prompted by their own increased ten- The State Department’s annual hu- Her late husband, the scholar Michael sions with China. “But there is a red man rights report for 2011 has plenty Aris, was British, as are her two sons. line, and that red line is, No permanent of criticism for the Burmese. (The 2012 President Thein Sein said in New York bases,” Dalpino said. report will not be issued until sometime in September 2012 that this could be “I think that we are seeing our defense in the first half of 2013.) Members of fixed by a constitutional amendment. diplomacy being a lot more nuanced— Congress, human rights organizations The ban, however, goes back to the ear- that we’re not trying to return [to] per- and Americans in general question how ly days of Burmese independence, re- manent bases, we’re just trying to set up Washington can justify softening its ap- flecting a deep-seated nationalism and flexible arrangements on an as needed proach to the Burmese leadership while not just the whim of a military junta. basis, when both countries agree, that the abuses continue, even though some Furthermore, the NLD is almost univer- U.S. can use for refueling, relocation of American partners are similar offend- sally described as lacking in effective troops and things like that,” she said, ers. (The chapter on India in the State organization and failing to develop a adding a caveat, that Southeast Asian Department’s annual human rights re- new generation of leaders. governments have to contend more now port is instructive in this regard.) Im- When Ban Ki-moon was invited with public opinion in the Internet age, portant issues remain between the U.S. to speak to Parliament on April 30, and it can be critical of American poli- and Myanmar. There are still some po- 2012—the first foreign leader to do cies, as it was during the American-led litical prisoners in Burmese jails, and so—he cautioned the assembled mem- invasion of Iraq in 2003. the unwillingness of the government bers, now with Aung San Suu Kyi in Existing security links with South- to settle the underlying problems that their midst, about the uneven road east Asians, however, already offer have caused the extreme violence in Ra- ahead, echoing President Thein Sein. openings to interact with Myanmar, khine/Arakan state, where people are “The perils and pitfalls are many…. Dalpino said. A former Asia Founda- stateless and Muslim minority rights are There is no single formula for suc- tion representative in Thailand, who is not protected, remains an important hu- cess,” Ban said. “The path of change now professor of international relations man rights failure. is still fragile and uncertain, but it is at Simmons College, she sees Thailand There are other political uncertain- indeed too narrow to turn back.” n as a natural partner in security areas. ties. Aung San Suu Kyi, the hope of “Since Thailand is a security treaty many Americans, faces a constitutional Opinion Ballots ally there may be opportunities to train ban on holding high office against any - 4 after page 32 Burmese,” she said. “And of course you one who has a foreign spouse or chil-
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4. Consider the reforms made by Thein Sein’s government. Why discussion questions might members of the military government have decided to em- brace democratic reform? What role did Cyclone Nargis play in the opening of Myanmar to the world? What kinds of issues are 1. How has Myanmar’s colonial past affected its political develop- still outstanding? Should the U.S. and the international community ment? In what ways does Aung San’s legacy continue to play out hesitate to roll back all sanctions until more steps toward democra- today? In what ways has Myanmar’s history shaped its society? tization have been made? How does its history affect its economic development? 5. In the past two years, Myanmar has embarked on unprecedented 2. Myanmar occupies a sensitive and critical position between reform and modernization. What are the sectors most in need of re- China and India. In what ways does this location provide opportu- form? Consider, for instance, the economy, the distribution of land, nities for Myanmar? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the education system and the government bureaucracy. How can these powerful neighbors? How have Myanmar’s natural resources the international community, whether governments, multinational shaped its relationships with its neighbors? What opportunities and institutions or foreign corporations, contribute to the development risks are presented by these natural resources? of Myanmar? In what ways does economic development affect the democratization process? For this largely agrarian society, what are 3. Myanmar is troubled by ethnic separatist and insurgent move- the dangers of too-fast reform? ments. What are the concerns of the religious and ethnic minority populations? What role does religion play in politics? How are 6. Consider Myanmar’s strategic location in Asia. What are the eco- religion and ethnicity tied to national identity? What lessons can nomic, human rights, security and other interests in U.S.-Myanmar Myanmar learn from history and from its neighbors’ experiences relations? How has the U.S. engaged with Myanmar’s government with minority populations? What, if anything, should the U.S. do and with the political opposition? How should relations with Myan- to promote the protection of minority rights? mar be prioritized relative to U.S. relations with other Asian partners?
Crossroads of Asia. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011. suggested readings 361 pp. $18.00 (paper). Thant Myint-U discusses the dynamic and strategic region stretching from India to China. He details the his- Aung, San Suu Kyi, and Aris, Michael, Freedom from Fear: tory and the significance of the region and uses his own extensive And Other Writings. New York, Penguin Books, 1991. 338 pp. travels to predict what the future might hold. $17.00 (paper). Aung San Suu Kyi’s collection of personal writings, speeches, letters and interviews gives readers insight into how her For background information and up-to-date news and analysis, we steadfast desire to incite change in Myanmar has developed as well recommend the following Internet resources: as her hopes for the future. Network Myanmar,
Thant, Myint-U, The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal His- Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/07/31/ tory of Burma. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. 388 pp. government-could-have-stopped>. This Human Rights Watch re- $15.00 (paper). Thant Myint-U’s narrative depicts the ups and the port provides an in-depth look at the outbreak of violence in Arakan downs of Myanmar’s history as he recounts it using personal and State and the absence of an appropriate response from Burmese family stories. authorities. The report includes HRW-conducted interviews with members of the Arakan and Rohingya communities as well as oth- Thant, Myint-U, Where China Meets India: Burma and the New ers affected by the violence.
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