Download or read book In Search of Myanmar written by James Fable and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'In Search of Myanmar: Travels through a Changing Land' is a witty and informative travel memoir that combines a personal narrative with political journalism.Eager to learn whether the country had changed much since the dissolution of its military dictatorship six years earlier, James travelled round Myanmar for nine months, investigating everything from the roots of the Rohingya genocide to the legacy of 'Miss Hairy Legs', the lesbian opium princess of Kokang.While his journalistic endeavours revealed fascinating and, at times, haunting truths about Myanmar, numerous encounters with curious characters ensured his journey was never dull. These included an obese monk, who wanted to know if there were many 'fat bastards' like himself in the UK, and a local English teacher, who claimed to have played football with the decapitated heads of Japanese soldiers during World War Two. Complete with maps and illustrations from the Mandalay artist Chuu Wai Nyein, 'In Search of Myanmar' is ideal for prospective travellers to Myanmar as well as for those wishing to gain an overview of this complex and fascinating country.
Download or read book 7 Days in Myanmar written by and published by Editions Didier Millet. This book was released on 2014 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Largely isolated from the world for more than four decades, Myanmar has made a remarkable return to the global stage following a political transformation that represents a watershed moment in the country's history. Now, for the first time ever, the rich culture, stunning landscapes and diverse peoples of the country are presented in a unique visual time capsule. Here is the new Myanmar as seen over a single week by a team of thirty famous photographers from eleven different countries. Their mission? To capture the life and spirit of Myanmar from every angle in every corner of the country. Through the downtown streets of Yangon and the handicraft centres of Mandalay, above the temple-dotted plains of Bagan and on the waters of Inle Lake, inside border towns and hilltribe villages and all the way to the furthest reaches of the north and south. The portrait they created reveals a nation full of natural beauty, old-world charm, deep spirituality and new hope. Featuring essays that provide context on Myanmar’s history and culture and hundreds of outstanding original photographs, 7 Days in Myanmar shows why the world is watching Myanmar and why Myanmar is ready for the world.
Download or read book Myanmar written by Caroline Courtauld and published by Airphoto International Limited. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fully revised and well illustrated 3rd edition of Burma intelligently evokes the magic and mystery of Burma, once the richest nation in Asia.
Download or read book The Wa of Myanmar and China s Quest for Global Dominance written by Bertil Lintner and published by . This book was released on 2021-03 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United Wa State Army (UWSA) is a nonstate armed group that administers an autonomous zone in the difficult-to-reach Wa Hills of eastern Myanmar. As China expands its geopolitical interests across Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Wa have come to play a pivotal role in Beijing's efforts to extend its influence in Myanmar. In a book relevant to current debates about geopolitics in Asia, the illicit drug trade, Myanmar's decades-long civil wars, and ongoing efforts to negotiate a settlement, Bertil Lintner, the only foreign journalist to visit the Wa areas when they were controlled by the Communist Party of Burma, traces the history of the Wa Hills and the struggles of its people, providing a rare look at the UWSA.
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 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 A History of Myanmar since Ancient Times written by Michael Aung-Thwin and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In A History of Myanmar since Ancient Times, Michael Aung-Thwin and Maitrii Aung-Thwin take us from the sacred stupas of the plains of Pagan to grand, colonial-era British mansions, revealing the storied past and rich culture of this country. The book traces the traditions and transformations of Myanmar’s communities over nearly three millennia, from the relics of its Neolithic civilization to the splendors of its pre-colonial kingdoms, its encounters with British colonialism and the struggles for the republic that followed the end of World War II. The authors also consider the complexities of present-day life in Myanmar and examine the key political events and debates of the last twenty-five years that have brought the world’s attention to the country. By exploring current developments within the broader patterns of Myanmar's history, culture and society, they provide a nuanced perspective on the issues and questions surrounding Myanmar’s future. This updated edition considers the changes that have taken place since the elections of 2010, the reforms that the civilian government introduced, and the ramifications of the country's new international status. It also assesses the implications of the 2012 by-elections, the ensuing political dynamics among various stakeholders, and the continuing socio-economic challenges facing Myanmar in the twenty-first century. The most comprehensive history of Myanmar ever published in the English language, this book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Southeast Asian history and will surprise, challenge, and inform in equal measure.
Download or read book Finding George Orwell in Burma written by Emma Larkin and published by Portobello Books Limited. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant political travelogue that uses Burma to explain Orwell and Orwell to explain what life is really like under the authoritarian rule of the Burmese generals.
Download or read book The Burmese Labyrinth written by Carlos Sardina Galache and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A first-hand account of the complex, bloody history of Myanmar and the origins of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas In 2011, Myanmar embarked in a democratic transition from a brutal military rule that culminated four years later, when the first free election in decades saw a landslide for the party of celebrated Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet, even as the international community was celebrating a new dawn, old wars were raging in the northern borderlands. A crisis was emerging in western Arakan state where the regime intensified its oppression of the vulnerable Muslim Rohingya community. By 2017, the conflict had escalated into a military onslaught against the Rohingya that provoked the most desperate refugee crisis of our times, as over 750,000 of them fled their homes to neighbouring Bangladesh. In The Burmese Labyrinth, journalist Carlos Sardiña Galache gives the in depth story of the country. Burma has always been an uneasy balance between multiple ethnic groups and religions. He examines the deep roots behind the ethnic divisions that go back prior to the colonial period, and so shockingly exploded in recent times. This is a powerful portrait of a nation in perpetual conflict with itself.
Download or read book The Lizard Cage written by Karen Connelly and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-01-11 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set during Burma's military dictatorship of the mid—1990s, Karen Connelly’s exquisitely written and harshly realistic debut novel is a hymn to human resilience and love. In the sealed-off world of a vast Burmese prison known as the cage, Teza languishes in solitary confinement seven years into a twenty-year sentence. Arrested in 1988 for his involvement in mass protests, he is the nation’s most celebrated songwriter whose resonant words and powerful voice pose an ongoing threat to the state. Forced to catch lizards to supplement his meager rations, Teza finds emotional and spiritual sustenance through memories and Buddhist meditation. The tiniest creatures and things–a burrowing ant, a copper-coloured spider, a fragment of newspaper within a cheroot filter–help to connect him to life beyond the prison walls. Even in isolation, Teza has a profound influence on the people around him. His integrity and humour inspire Chit Naing, the senior jailer, to find the courage to follow his conscience despite the serious risks involved, while Teza’s very existence challenges the brutal authority of the junior jailer, perversely nicknamed Handsome. Sein Yun, a gem smuggler and prison fixer, is his most steady human contact, who finds delight in taking advantage of Teza by cleverly tempting him into Handsome's web with the most dangerous contraband of all: pen and paper. Lastly, there's Little Brother, an orphan raised in the jail, imprisoned by his own deprivation. Making his home in a tiny, corrugated-metal shack, Little Brother stays alive by killing rats and selling them to the inmates. As the political prisoner and the young boy forge a cautious friendship, we learn that both are prisoners of different orders; only one of them dreams of escape and only one of them achieves it. Barely able to speak, losing the battle of the flesh but winning the battle of the spirit, Teza knows he has the power to transfigure one small life, and to send a message of hope and resistance out of the cage. Shortlisted for both the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, The Lizard Cage has received rave reviews nationally and internationally.
Download or read book Narrating Democracy in Myanmar written by Tamas Wells and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-30 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses what Myanmar's struggle for democracy has signified to Burmese activists and democratic leaders, and to their international allies. In doing so, it explores how understanding contested meanings of democracy helps make sense of the country's tortuous path since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won historic elections in 2015. Using Burmese and English language sources, Narrating Democracy in Myanmar reveals how the country's ongoing struggles for democracy exist not only in opposition to Burmese military elites, but also within networks of local activists and democratic leaders, and international aid workers.
Download or read book Making Enemies written by Mary Patricia Callahan and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Burmese army took political power in Burma in 1962 and has ruled the country ever since. The persistence of this government--even in the face of long-term nonviolent opposition led by activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991--has puzzled scholars. In a book relevant to current debates about democratization, Mary P. Callahan seeks to explain the extraordinary durability of the Burmese military regime. In her view, the origins of army rule are to be found in the relationship between war and state formation.Burma's colonial past had seen a large imbalance between the military and civil sectors. That imbalance was accentuated soon after formal independence by one of the earliest and most persistent covert Cold War conflicts, involving CIA-funded Kuomintang incursions across the Burmese border into the People's Republic of China. Because this raised concerns in Rangoon about the possibility of a showdown with Communist China, the Burmese Army received even more autonomy and funding to protect the integrity of the new nation-state.The military transformed itself during the late 1940s and the 1950s from a group of anticolonial guerrilla bands into the professional force that seized power in 1962. The army edged out all other state and social institutions in the competition for national power. Making Enemies draws upon Callahan's interviews with former military officers and her archival work in Burmese libraries and halls of power. Callahan's unparalleled access allows her to correct existing explanations of Burmese authoritarianism and to supply new information about the coups of 1958 and 1962.
Download or read book Citizenship in Myanmar written by Ashley South and published by Flipside Digital Content Company Inc.. This book was released on 2018-05-24 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Myanmar is going through a period of profound - and contested - transition. The country has experienced widespread if sometimes uneven reforms, including the start of a peace process between the government and Myanmar Army, and some two dozen ethnic armed organizations, which had long been fighting for greater autonomy from the militarized and Burman-dominated state. This book brings together chapters by Burmese and foreign experts, and contributions from community and political leaders, who discuss the meaning of citizenship in Myanmar/Burma. The book explores citizenship in relation to three broad categories: issues of identity and conflict; debates around concepts and practices of citizenship; and inter- and intra-community issues, including Buddhist-Muslim relations. This is the first volume to address these issues, understanding and resolving which will be central to Myanmar's continued transition away from violence and authoritarianism.
Download or read book Myanmar written by N Ganesan and published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This book was released on 2007 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers issues of historical influence and political considerations that have shaped the dominant thinking within the state and the military. Examines the three major ethnic groups in the country - Karen, Kachin, and Shan. Deals with how the various ethnic groups are trying to cope with decades of conflict and reconstruct their communities.
Download or read book The Paradox of Myanmar s Regime Change written by Roger Lee Huang and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-06 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes Myanmar’s contemporary political history, arguing that Myanmar’s so-called "democratization" has always been a calculated regime transition, planned by the military, with every intention that the military to remain the key permanent political actor in Myanmar’s political regime. Using the period since Myanmar’s regime change in 2011 as an extended case study, this book offers an original theory of regime transition. The author argues that Myanmar’s ongoing regime transition has not diverged from its authoritarian military roots and explains how the military has long planned its voluntary partial withdrawal from direct politics. Therefore, Myanmar’s "disciplined democracy" contains features of democratic politics, but at its core remains authoritarian. Providing an original contribution to the theoretical literature on regime change by developing a theory of trial and error regime transition, the book engages with and challenges the popular democratization theory by arguing that this theory does not sufficiently explain hybrid regimes or authoritarian durability. Additionally, the book adds to an alternative understanding of how the regime transition was initiated by examining the historical evolution of Myanmar’s post-colonial regime and offers a fresh perspective on contemporary political developments in Myanmar. An important contribution to the study of authoritarian durability and the dynamics of regime change in Southeast Asia, this book will be of interest to academic researchers of comparative politics, international relations, and Southeast Asian studies.
Download or read book Myanmar Burma written by Alexis Rieffel and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines internal issues of Myanmar, also known as Burma, as well as the country's relations with its neighbors and the United States, discussing the Obama administration's policy of "pragmatic engagement," which links the removal of sanctions to implementation of greater freedom and respect of human rights. Original.
Download or read book Conflict in Myanmar written by Nick Cheesman and published by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Myanmar’s military adjusts to life with its former opponents holding elected office, Conflict in Myanmar showcases innovative research by a rising generation of scholars, analysts and practitioners about the past five years of political transformation. Each of its seventeen chapters, from participants in the 2015 Myanmar Update conference held at the Australian National University, builds on theoretically informed, evidence-based research to grapple with significant questions about ongoing violence and political contention. The authors offer a variety of fresh views on the most intractable and controversial aspects of Myanmar’s long-running civil wars, fractious politics and religious tensions. This latest volume in the Myanmar Update Series from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific continues and deepens a tradition of intense, critical engagement with political, economic and social questions that matter to both the inhabitants and neighbours of one of Southeast Asia’s most complicated and fascinating countries.
