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Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know® PDF

289 Pages·2013·3.347 MB·English
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BURMA/MYANMAR WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd ii 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4400 PPMM 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd iiii 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4400 PPMM BURMA/MYANMAR WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW Second Edition DAVID I. STEINBERG 1 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd iiiiii 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4400 PPMM 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2010, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Steinberg, David I., 1928- Burma/Myanmar: what everyone needs to know / David I. Steinberg. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “Taking into account the dramatic changes the country has seen in the past two years—including the establishment of a human rights commission, the release of political prisoners, and reforms in health and education—David I. Steinberg offers an updated second edition of Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know.”— Provided by publisher. ISBN 978–0–19–998168–7 (pbk.) — ISBN 978–0–19–998167–0 (cloth) 1. Public administration—Burma. 2. Burma—Politics and government. 3. Burma—Colonial infl uence. I. Title. JQ751.A58S84 2013 959.1—dc23 2012041007 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd iivv 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4400 PPMM To my family Ann Myongsook Lee Alexander Lee Steinberg Eric David Steinberg who sustained me 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd vv 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4400 PPMM 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd vvii 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4400 PPMM CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii MAPS xv PRELIMINARY NOTES xix INTRODUCTION xxix 1 The Crises That Are Burma/Myanmar 1 What is Burma? 1 Why are we interested in Burma/Myanmar? 2 Why should we be interested in Burma/Myanmar? 3 What can we learn from Burma/Myanmar? 6 Why is learning about Burma/Myanmar so diffi cult? 9 What are the crises facing Burma/Myanmar? 11 2 Important Residues from the Precolonial Period 16 How does Burmese history relate to contemporary events? 16 How did Burmese kings view governance and authority, and is this relevant today? 19 What were Burma’s relations with internal peoples, regions, and neighboring states? 21 What was the role of Buddhism in traditional Burma? 24 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd vviiii 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4411 PPMM viii Contents 3 The Colonial Era’s Importance in Understanding Burma/Myanmar Today 27 What led to the three Anglo-Burman Wars of the nineteenth century? 27 What was the role of India in colonial Burma, what are its residual infl uences, and why are they important? 29 What economic development programs did the British introduce? 32 What was the role of Buddhism during this period and what social changes affected the society? 33 How did Burmese nationalism develop and what have been its effects? 35 What was the impact of World War II on Burma, and what effect did the Japanese conquest have on Burma and its future? 37 How did the Burma army develop in the colonial period and under the Japanese? 38 How do the Burmese today consider the colonial era? 39 4 Independence and the Civilian Government (1948–1962): Mixed Heritages 41 How did independence come about? 41 What was the role of Aung San? 43 How did Burma deal with the political and ethnic rebellions? 44 Why didn’t Burma join the Commonwealth? 45 How did the Chinese nationalist incursion affect Burma? 46 What were relations with the United States? 48 What were relations with China? 49 Was Burma communist or socialist, and what were the ideological infl uences on the society? 51 What were the government’s plans for economic development? 52 What were the effects of the 1947 civilian constitution? 53 How did the AFPFL operate and govern? 54 What caused the military “Caretaker” Government, how did it function, and what was its legacy? 55 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd vviiiiii 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4411 PPMM Contents ix How did the minorities fare under the civilian government? 57 How did the 1960 elections affect Burma? 59 What caused the coup of 1962? 60 How may we evaluate the civilian, democratic period? 61 5 The Military Coup, the Socialist Period (1962–1988), and the Perpetuation of Military Rule 63 What were the effects of the coup? 63 What was the “Burmese Way to Socialism”? 65 How did the BSPP operate? 66 What was the impact of the socialist policies? 67 How were foreign relations under the BSPP? 68 How did the 1974 constitution come about and what was its impact? 69 How did the indigenous minorities fare under the 1974 unitary state? 71 How were monks registered? 72 How was citizenship defi ned? 73 What was the role of General/President/Chairman Ne Win? 74 What happened to the economy in the 1980s? 76 What were the causes of the 1988 People’s Revolution and the coup that followed? 78 6 The SLORC/SPDC Era (1988–Present): Continuation of Military Power 82 What was the SLORC and how did it change into the SPDC? 83 Who were the leaders of the military in this period, and how were they trained? 84 What political and economic policies were instituted shortly after the coup? 86 How did the political opposition develop and what was the National League for Democracy? 88 0000__SStteeiinnbbeerrgg__FFMM..iinndddd iixx 44//33//22001133 22::5577::4411 PPMM

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