An iron law of effective diplomacy is that if you make public demands, your credibility depends on sticking to them. European Union foreign ministers saw fit to ignore that lesson yesterday when they formally lifted all sanctions on Burma except an arms embargo. Last year, the same ministers said this step would only be taken […]
Myanmar’s transition from military rule to democracy was never going to be easy, and the violent events of March show why it will be more complicated than previously thought. Contrary to the notion that democracy and pluralism go together, the new Burma is becoming a hot spot of sectarian violence. For sure, the problem is […]
In its rush to fete Myanmar‘s president, Thein Sein, and capitalize on the country’s tentative opening, the international community has turned a blind eye toward the ongoing repression of minorities and the continued political dominance of the military. In doing so, it has given up much of its leverage over Sein at the very time […]
Oil and gas have long held the promise of untold riches for Southeast Asian countries. Yet, success in the region has been mixed: Brunei has flourished and Malaysia has seen steady progress, but Burma, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam and East Timor have struggled to exploit their reserves. Read Here – The Diplomat
THE border between Yunnan province and northern Myanmar (formerly Burma) has always been porous. To the people who live in the region, the border is a crooked mark on other people’s maps, an arbitrary boundary snaking its way 2,400 kilometres through rugged and wild terrain. The authorities in Beijing have seen the same land as […]
Two years ago this month, Burma’s current government took office amid broad international condemnation for the rigged election — replete with fraud and intimidation — that put it there. Despite this inauspicious start, Burma politics have opened in the last year and a half, and the country’s economy has liberalized more quickly than any other […]
Almost all ethnic armed groups have successfully signed ceasefire agreements with the Burmese government. The Kachin Independence Organization, with its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA), is the only major armed group still battling the Burmese army. Along with the Chins, the Shans and the Burmans, the Kachins signed the historic Panglong agreement to […]
The renewed fighting in Myanmar hasdrawn close to the Chinese border in the past week, and Chinese media are reporting that the government of neighboring province in Yunnan is bracing for impact, moving troops to the border and preparing refugee camps to deal with an influx of refugees from the Kachin rebel-controlled areas (Kachin is the name of both the […]
Khin Yu Waddy Myint is manager at Pyrex Trading and Distribution, a Burmese pharmaceutical company that employs 250 people across the country. Part of her job is to source and import medicines from India and Australia, a task she concedes she doesn’t know enough about. “It is the first time for me to learn many […]
INDIA TODAY STANDS as the world’s largest democratic state, a nation of over a billion people that stitches together countless ethnic groups, castes, and languages. Indian officials long have boasted of their nation’s deep and founding commitment to democracy, a public emphasis that has only grown stronger as China and India increasingly become global competitors. You […]
looking beyond borders 