Myanmar
Myanmar: pariah status no bar to defence modernisation
It has been more than two years since military “clearance operations” against Myanmar’s Rohingyas began in October 2016. Since then, the international community has relied on…
The chance for Australia to urge ASEAN to act on the Rohingya crisis
This week, diplomats from Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will gather in Malaysia for the 31st ASEAN-Australian Forum. Even with the Australian government…
Myanmar’s intelligence apparatus under Aung San Suu Kyi
When Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in 2016, a wave of euphoria swept over Myanmar, shared by many people in other parts of the world.
…
The death penalty paradox in Buddhist Myanmar
On my recent visit to Myanmar, I attended the commemoration ceremony of U Ko Ni, the former lawyer and legal advisor to the National League for Democracy. He was among the most…
Violence in Myanmar: look elsewhere than Security Council
Last week the UN Security Council was briefed yet again on the situation in Myanmar.
This time the message was presented by the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy…
The gloom about Myanmar’s economy
Talking to business owners across a variety of sectors in Yangon in January this year, the mood was universally glum.
Big-spending Western tourists were staying away in droves,…
The fight to preserve the Khon Pi Luang rapids
In 2000, China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand concluded an agreement to begin clearing the Mekong River of obstacles so that cargo vessels could travel from southern Yunnan to…
Myanmar: a country reluctant to help the world understand itself
Some have called Myanmar a struggling beauty. Without a doubt, the country is beautiful, home to a number of unique heritage sites. Yet it is also a country that claims it has…
Myanmar’s skewed democracy was predictable
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) was made up of exiled pro-democracy leaders who were elected to the national parliament in 1990 (which was…
Myanmar’s press freedom mirage
It has been a bad year for press freedom across Southeast Asia. Myanmar has been no exception.
Media freedom fell to new lows this month as a self-proclaimed anti-Rohingya…