Download or read book The Hidden History of Burma Race Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century written by Thant Myint-U and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did one of the world’s "buzzy hotspots" (Fodor’s 2013) become one of the top ten places to avoid (Fodor’s 2018)? Precariously positioned between China and India, Burma’s population has suffered dictatorship, natural disaster, and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from long years of house arrest, hopes soared. World leaders such as Barack Obama ushered in waves of international support. Progress seemed inevitable. As historian, former diplomat, and presidential advisor, Thant Myint-U saw the cracks forming. In this insider’s diagnosis of a country at a breaking point, he dissects how a singularly predatory economic system, fast-rising inequality, disintegrating state institutions, the impact of new social media, the rise of China next door, climate change, and deep-seated feelings around race, religion, and national identity all came together to challenge the incipient democracy. Interracial violence soared and a horrific exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fixed international attention. Myint-U explains how and why this happened, and details an unsettling prognosis for the future. Burma is today a fragile stage for nearly all the world’s problems. Are democracy and an economy that genuinely serves all its people possible in Burma? In clear and urgent prose, Myint-U explores this question—a concern not just for the Burmese but for the rest of the world—warning of the possible collapse of this nation of 55 million while suggesting a fresh agenda for change.

Download or read book Burma Country in Crisis written by Thomas R. Lansner and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes statistics.

Download or read book Myanmar s Buddhist Muslim Crisis written by John Clifford Holt and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2019-09-30 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Myanmar’s Buddhist-Muslim Crisis is a probing search into the reasons and rationalizations behind the violence occurring in Myanmar, especially the oppressive military campaigns waged against Rohingya Muslims by the army in 2016 and 2017. Over more than three years John Holt traveled around Myanmar engaging in sustained conversations with prominent and articulate participants and observers. What emerges from his peregrinations is a series of compelling portraits revealing both deep insights and entrenched misunderstandings. To understand the conflict, Holt must first accurately capture the viewpoints of his different conversation partners, who include Buddhists and Muslims, men and women, monks and laypeople, activists and scholars. Conversations range widely over issues such as the rise of Buddhist nationalism; the sometimes enigmatic and unexpected positions taken by Aung San Suu Kyii; use of the controversial term “Rohingya”; the impact of state-sponsored propaganda on the Burmese public; resistance to narratives emanating from international media, the United Nations, and the international diplomatic community; the frustrations of local political leaders who have felt left out of the policy-making process in the Rakhine State; and the constructive hopes and efforts still being made by forward-looking activists in Yangon. Three main perspectives emerge from the voices he listens to, those of Arakanese Buddhists who are native to Rakhine (once called Arakan), where much of the conflict has taken place; Burmese Buddhists (or Bamars), who make up the vast majority of Myanmar’s population; and the Rohingya Muslims, whose tragic story has been widely disseminated by the international media. What surfaces in conversation after conversation among all three groups is a narrative of siege: all see themselves as the aggrieved party, and all recount a history of being under siege. John Holt gives voice to these different perspectives as an engaged and concerned participant, offering both a critical and empathetic account of Myanmar’s tragic predicament. Readers follow the hopes and dismay of this seasoned scholar of Theravada Buddhism as he seeks his own understanding of the variously impassioned forces in play in this still unfolding drama.

Download or read book Myanmar s Enemy Within written by Francis Wade and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Hidden History of Burma written by Thant Myint-U and published by Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2020-01-16 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2020 A New York Times Critic's Pick 2019 ' A sobering account, told elegantly and eruditely.' Financial Times 'Thant Myint-U is the greatest living historian of Burma.' William Dalrymple Precariously positioned between China and India, Burma's population has suffered dictatorship, natural disaster and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from long years of house arrest, hopes soared. World leaders including Barack Obama ushered in waves of international support. Progress seemed inevitable. As historian, former diplomat, and presidential advisor, Thant Myint-U saw the cracks forming. In this insider's diagnosis of a country at a breaking point, he dissects how a singularly predatory economic system, fast-rising inequality, disintegrating state institutions, the impact of new social media, the rise of China next door, climate change and deep-seated feelings around race, religion and national identity all came together to challenge the incipient democracy. Interracial violence soared and a horrific exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fixed international attention. Thant Myint-U explains how and why this happened, and details an unsettling prognosis for the future. Burma is today a fragile stage for nearly all the world's problems. Are democracy and an economy that genuinely serves all its people possible in Burma? In clear and urgent prose, Thant Myint-U explores this question - a concern not just for the Burmese but for the rest of the world - warning of the possible collapse of this nation of 55 million while suggesting a fresh agenda for change. 'A compelling account of modern Burma's bloody history' Amitav Ghosh

Download or read book Myanmar s Rohingya Conflict written by Anthony Ware and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2018-09-28 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The plight of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims has made international news in recent years. Reports of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are commonplace. The Rohingyas have been denied citizenship and are widely discriminated against. Hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced by violence, or have sought refuge in neighbouring or friendly Muslim countries. This conflict has become a litmus test for change in this country in transition, and current assessments are far from positive. Whitewashing by the military, and a refusal by Aung San Suu Kyi's government to even use the name 'Rohingya', adds to international scepticism. Exploring this long-running tripartite conflict between the Rohingya, Rakhine and Burman ethnic groups, this book offers a new analysis of the complexities of the conflict: the fears and motivations driving it and the competition to control historical representations and collective memory. By questioning these competing narratives, offering detailed sociopolitical analysis and examining the international dimensions of the conflict, this book offers new insights into what is preventing a peaceful resolution to this intractable conflict.

Download or read book Domestic Constraints on South Korean Foreign Policy written by Scott A. Snyder and published by Council on Foreign Relations. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays support the argument that strong and effective presidential leadership is the most important prerequisite for South Korea to sustain and project its influence abroad. That leadership should be attentive to the need for public consensus and should operate within established legislative mechanisms that ensure public accountability. The underlying structures sustaining South Korea’s foreign policy formation are generally sound; the bigger challenge is to manage domestic politics in ways that promote public confidence about the direction and accountability of presidential leadership in foreign policy.

Download or read book Demystifying Myanmar s Transition and Political Crisis written by Chosein Yamahata and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers the assessment of Myanmar’s societal changes, development aspects, and political situation over the course of the nation’s short lived democratic transition disrupted by the coup d’état on 1 February 2021. A multitude of authors with different expertise add new dimensions of analysis to provide a foundation for any future international cooperation in Myanmar’s center and peripheries. The military’s institutionalization of its influence and control in political, economic and social affairs has negatively affected the safety, security and peace of people and their communities at the periphery. This in turn has led the people to undertake local grassroots initiatives towards securing a genuine democratic transition at the local and national level. The chapters probe into Myanmar’s transition and political crisis through in-depth discussion on the issues such as, but not limited to, state fragility, community resilience, political leadership, ethnic women’s organizations, human security, education equality, IDPs and non-state actors, ethnic community-based health organizations, the 2020 election, peace process, development issues, the coup’s destruction, and a new-born unity. The book covers an important collection of inputs from young and prominent scholars alike, offering a valuable resource for general readers, students, and practitioners. The editors present this volume as a vital collection to literature at a time of heated political crisis and societal responses on her current course since the contributors highlight the state of Myanmar by also focusing on the margins, the grassroots, and the recent coup.

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Burma Myanmar written by Donald M. Seekins and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-03-27 with total page 685 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Burma (Myanmar) is a Southeast Asian country that is emerging from crisis after more than a half century of hard-line military rule and cultural, diplomatic and economic isolation. With the dissolution of its military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, in 2011, a formally civilian but military-dominated constitutional government was inaugurated. By 2012, Burma’s president, retired General Thein Sein, had established a working relationship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country’s pro-democracy movement since 1988, and after a 2012 by-election she and members of her opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), entered the new Union Parliament as legislators. However, even with the election victory of Daw Suu Kyi and the NLD in the General Election of November 2015, Burma faces daunting challenges: it is still one of the poorest countries in Southeast, fissured by longstanding ethnic conflicts that have made a nationwide peace agreement elusive and its people’s security and the environment are threatened by foreign economic exploitation. Religious discord is also widely evident, as Buddhist militants instigate violence against the country’s religious minorities, especially Muslims. Today Burma’s prospects are the most hopeful they have been for over half a century, as the country takes steps along the road to a more open society and economy. This edition of the Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) encompasses not only current developments, but also Burma’s over 1,500 years-old recorded history and the most important features of its cultures, ethnicity, religions, society and economy. This is done through achronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture.

Download or read book Crisis in Burma written by Julie A. Grundahl and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Since 1962, the state of Burma (or Myanmar) has fallen victim to defunct military rule that has driven the country into economic crisis aggravated by widespread poverty and disease, reliance on the illicit drug trade, massive corruption, and grave human rights violations. In 1988, the crisis manifested in large-scale internal protests for democratic reform resulting in the killing of over 3,000 civilians at the hands of the junta-led military. Since then, the democratic opposition party in Burma has struggled to overcome extreme measures of isolation and suppression by the junta to stimulate a transition to democratic governance. As the world's superpower and "beacon of light" for democratic processes and ideals, the US has an important leadership role to play in this political drama. Aside from its moral obligations, however, US strategic interests are at stake as they are increasingly compromised by the economic and political instability caused by rogue governments. Therefore, it is not enough to limit the promotion of freedom that has yielded stability and prosperity within US borders alone. So, how should the US respond to the crisis in Burma? For the past two decades, US foreign policy has relied heavily on economic pressure to coerce political change. In light of worsening conditions in Burma and significant changes in global power politics since the turn of the millennia, a change in strategy is needed. Using the Problem/Solution method of research, this paper examines the full spectrum of strategic options and recommends a course of action that respects the current dynamics of the geopolitical environment as well as current US capabilities and limitations. This paper contends that to protect its national security interests, the US should implement a strategic blend of all four major instruments of power--economic, military, information, and diplomacy--placing the greatest emphasis on diplomacy in the Southeast Asia region and with China to promote political, social, and economic reform in failing Burma."--Abstract.

Download or read book Burma Myanmar written by David Steinberg and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No country in Asia in recent years has undergone so massive a political shift in so short a time as Myanmar. Until recently, the former British colony had one of the most secretive, corrupt, and repressive regimes on the planet, a country where Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was held in continual house arrest and human rights were denied to nearly all. Yet events in Myanmar since the elections of November 2010 have profoundly altered the internal mood of the society, and have surprised even Burmese and seasoned foreign observers of the Myanmar scene. The pessimism that pervaded the society prior to the elections, and the results of that voting that prompted many foreign observers to call them a "sham" or "fraud," gradually gave way to the realization that positive change was in the air. In this updated second edition of Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Davd I. Steinberg addresses the dramatic changes in the country over the past two years, including the establishment of a human rights commission, the release of political prisoners, and reforms in health and education. More than ever, the history, culture, and internal politics of this country are crucial to understanding the current transformation, which has generated headlines across the globe. Geographically strategic, Burma/Myanmar lies between the growing powers of China and India. Yet it is mostly unknown to Westerners despite being its thousand-year history as a nation. Burma/Myanmar is a place of contradictions: a picturesque land with mountain jungles and monsoon plains, it is one of the world's largest producers of heroin. Though it has extensive natural resources including oil, gas, teak, metals, and minerals, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. And despite a half-century of military-dominated rule, change is beginning to work its way through the beleaguered nation, as it moves to a more pluralistic administrative system reflecting its pluralistic cultural and multi-ethnic base. Authoritative and balanced, Burma/Myanmar is an essential book on a country in the throes of historic change. What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.

Download or read book Myanmar written by Monique Skidmore and published by ANU E Press. This book was released on 2007-10-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite deteriorating economic and developmental conditions, worsening environmental problems, and troubles arising from the unresolved status of its ethnic minorities, Myanmar seems no closer to a political resolution. Myanmar's economy continues to stagnate, with severe implications for its people. Low levels of international assistance have exacerbated the situation. Myanmar the state, community and the environment examines the missed opportunities by government and opposition groups to find a way out of the political impasse and improve the standard of living of the people of Myanmar. This collection provides insights into the country's economic development, in particular the vital rice-marketing sector and the attempts to expand existing industrial zones. It focuses, for the first time, on Myanmar's environmental governance with in-depth case studies, and on the increasing need for effective environmental protection and sustainability..

Download or read book After the Coup written by Anthony Ware and published by ANU Press. This book was released on 2023-12-07 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021 abruptly reversed a decade-long flirtation with economic and political freedoms. The country has since descended into civil war, the people have been plunged back into conflict and poverty, and the state is again characterised by fragility and human insecurity. As the Myanmar people oppose the regime and fight for their rights, the international community must find ways to act in solidarity. There is an urgent need for new policy settings and for practical engagement with local partners and recipient groups. The contributors to After the Coup offer timely insights into ways international actors can try to reduce the suffering of millions of citizens who are again being held hostage by a brutal and self-serving regime. Chapters analyse topics including coercive statecraft, international justice, Rakhine State (Rohingya) dynamics, pandemic weaponisation, higher education, non-state welfare and aid delivery, activism from exile, self-determination and power sharing in the National Unity Government’s alternative constitution, and the roles of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Download or read book The Politics of Aid to Burma written by Anne Decobert and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over sixty years, conflict between state forces and armed ethnic groups was ongoing in parts of the borderlands of Burma. Ethnic minority communities were subjected to systematic and widespread abuses by an increasingly complex patchwork of armed state and non-state actors. Populations in more remote and disputed border areas typically had little to no access to even basic healthcare and education services. As part of its counter-insurgency campaign, the military state also historically restricted international humanitarian access to civilian populations in unstable border areas. It was in this context that "cross-border aid" to Burma had developed, as an alternative mechanism for channelling assistance to populations denied aid through more conventional systems. Yet by the late 2000s, national and international changes had significant impacts on an aid debate, which had important political and ethical implications. Through an ethnographic study of a cross-border aid organisation working on the Thailand-Burma border, this book focuses on the political and ethical dilemmas of "humanitarian government". It explores the ways in which aid systems come to be defined as legitimate or illegitimate, humanitarian or "un-humanitarian", in an international context that has witnessed the multiplication of often-conflicting humanitarian systems and models. It examines how an "embodied history" of violence can shape the worldviews and actions of local humanitarian actors, as well as institutions created to mitigate human suffering. It goes on to look at the complex and often-invisible webs of local organisations, international NGOs, donors, armed groups and other actors, which can develop in a cross-border and extra-legal context ¿ a context where competing constructions of systems as legitimate or illegitimate are highlighted. Exploring the history of humanitarianism from the local aid perspective of Burma, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asian Studies, Anthropology of Humanitarian Aid and Development Studies.

Download or read book Myanmar Burma since 1962 the Failure of Development written by Peter John Perry and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-02-27 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why has Myanmar (Burma), a country rich in resources - rice, timber, minerals - descended to 'least developed country' status? Is the explanation to be found inside Burma or beyond? Is the failure of development due to political authoritarianism and conflict? Or perhaps the drugs trade is partly to blame? This book contends that all these factors have contributed. But it also maintains that the mismanagement of the country's resources is of equal, or even greater, importance. A clear answer to the question of Burma's developmental failure is sought by focussing upon the misuse of resources in concert with those factors that are more usually emphasized.

Download or read book Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics written by Gustaaf Houtman and published by ILCAA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of the current political crisis in Burma, and in particular its Buddhist and socio-psychological aspects.

Download or read book Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Myanmar written by Kudret Bülbül and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-03 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the current reality and the future of ethnic Rohingyas in Myanmar. It presents Myanmar’s history, ‎policy, politics and, most ‎importantly, while focusing on Rohingya ethnic conflict, presents a resolution by looking at ‎the global and regional policies ‎and politics of South Asia and ‎South-East Asia. The recent coup unfolded in Myanmar and the detention of the democratic ‎leaders has surprised the ‎world with its subsequent emergency declaration in 2021, thus making this ‎book ‎relevant and well-timed. ‎ Eventually, the book offers an account of a previously ‎little ‎known, yet much-discussed role of media, ‎international actors, human trafficking, ‎and ‎humanitarian-based resolution for Rohingya refugee crisis. It shows a new perspective ‎in the post-Rohingya influx era of Bangladesh and the neighbouring countries.