Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2015. vii, 376 pp. (Figures, maps, tables.) US$78.50, cloth. ISBN 978-1-62637-181-1.
This book originates with a 2013 conference on Myanmar at Johns Hopkins University. It is timely as that country had a national election in November 2015. The book comprises fourteen chapters arranged in three sections: the Political Realm, Issues of Socioeconomic Development, and Myanmar International Relations. David Steinberg, editor and contributor, notes that the volume will be of interest to those who follow Myanmar’s policy affairs. Excellent chapters provide historical reviews and current analyses, and are generally upbeat about Myanmar’s prospects. The contributors acknowledge that remarkable changes have taken place in Myanmar since the pivotal November 2010 national election. Flawed as that vote may have been, it triggered a new political and international reality, as gradual liberalization and freedom of political expression launched the restoration of the nations’ once esteemed (and wealthy) reputation in Asia.
Steinberg’s introduction reviews Myanmar political events, ethnic, political, and economic issues, and recent foreign policy initiatives that have moved the country into a more respected international space. Andrew Selth provides a chapter with an unambiguous title: “Myanmar’s Coercive Apparatus: the Long Road to Reform,” focusing on the intelligence community, police, and armed forces (Tatmadaw), all “feared institutions” facing reforms. The armed forces are “an autonomous institution not subject to civilian control” (15), the “internal workings” of the Tatmadaw simply unobtainable, and an officer cadre sees themselves as patriots charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the 2008 constitution of their making. This, along with the “opaque” thirteen-member National Defence and Security Council under the military commander-in-chief (General Min Aung Hlaing), guarantees the armed forces’ ultimate control of the nation’s destiny (75).
The 2015 elections seriously tested this sense of Tatmadaw privilege, though the armed forces retain control of several key ministries, and have substantial economic independence. Renaud Egreteau’s “Emerging Patterns of Parliamentary Politics” provides a rare glimpse of Hluttaw representatives, pointing out that despite their inexperience as lawmakers, they are responsible and keen participants in the new challenge of policy making. Elliott Prasse-Freeman analyses “Conceptions of Justice and the Rule of Law,” noting that “Anglo-American” notions of these ideals are not necessarily relevant to the Myanmar context (98). While “Rule of Law” has a certain universal application with reference to human rights, this phrase needs clarification in its current Burmese context, especially by Aung San Suu Kyi. In “Buddhism, Politics and Political Change,” Matthew Walton contends religion continues to be “the source of the conceptual framework within which most Buddhists in Myanmar think about politics” (115), identifying inhibiting factors in the traditional Buddhist worldview, such as nationalism and reinforcement of gender and status hierarchies, and concluding that “with a vocal Buddhist majority, the government has to be very cautious and restrained in its response to these trends” (117).
Chapter 7, on “Ethnic Politics in a Time of Change” (Martin Smith), provides a synopsis of ethnic political parties, ceasefire groups, and alliances. They seek “firm political commitment to the 1947 Panglong Agreement” that was drawn up at independence, but never implemented by subsequent governments (144). Especially important are attempts to honour ceasefire commitments between the government and a shifting, complex range of ethnic militias, some powerful enough to resist defeat. Ethnic representatives are aware that compliance with current ceasefire agreements drawn up by the government would signify acceptance of the 2008 constitution. In “Governance and Political Legitimacy in the Peace Process,” Ashley South furthers the discussion of armed ethnic groups, who still see the Tatmadaw as “a predatory and violent intruder” (159).
Lex Rieffel reviews planning challenges in agriculture, resource extraction, human resource development, foreign aid, and macroeconomic management. Myanmar’s economic backwardness is reflected by the reality that it has no major highway or rail connection with any of its five neighbours. Especially crucial is the nation’s lack of achievement in the human resources sector, evident in the “dearth of professional level expertise,” and, importantly, in the fact that apart from Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar personalities “of the likes of U Nu and U Thant do not exist” (206). Tin Maung Maung Than and Moe Thuzar’s chapter on “Economic Reforms: Expectations and Realities” describes how the banking and resource mobilization infrastructure is being built from scratch, and reflects on the paralytic impact of international sanctions imposed in 1990, which also crucially limited “the flow of new ideas … that have become international standards” (219).
In “Land Rights and Land Tenure,” Christina Fink reviews events leading up to the present legislation which grants landholders the right to sell, exchange, inherit, and lease farmland, although constitutionally the state is the ultimate owner of all lands and their natural resources. Land conflicts remain at the heart of development challenges, an especially acute topic in the forested and resource-rich uplands. In a twelfth chapter, “China and Myanmar: Moving Beyond Mutual Dependence,” Yun Sun argues that Myanmar is one of the rare cases where China’s diplomatic policy has encountered major setbacks (e.g., cancellation of the vast Myitzone hydro project in 2012). China is committed to an oil/gas pipeline that by traversing the country gives Myanmar some leverage, but Beijing still “remains capable of inflicting vital damage to Myanmar” (279). Jürgen Haacke reflects on international affairs in “US-Myanmar Relations,” highlighting the issues where the two governments “are not in sync” (289). Haacke reflects on Aung San Suu Kyi’s influence on US aims for bilateral reengagement, and discusses successful visits to the US of Myanmar political luminaries in 2013. But there are matters on which Myanmar has not compromised, notably reform of the “deeply flawed” 2008 constitution, and ongoing ethnic nationalism.
David Steinberg concludes by observing that we should watch for new institutions and leaders as Myanmar absorbs the impact of so many reforms, but that “sensitivities to Burmese history and national sentiment will remain the critical backdrop in any program or activity” (329). In all of this, “a sense of cautious optimism is not amiss” (331).
Bruce Matthews
Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada
pp. 482-484