MYANMAR (BURMA)

Southeast Asia consists of numerous countries that vary in population, culture, land area, and economic resources, although there are also some similarities between the countries. However, within the disparity and diversity of the Southeast Asian economies, political system, population, ideology, and others, there are some common grounds that have made this countries similar one another and try to cooperate themselves.

Burma or Myanmar is one of the most interesting countries in Southeast Asia. This country is unique, whether in its political system or in its domestic condition. Burma has a rich culture and historically wonderful. Burma also known as a country with strong military junta. The country is led by military junta and has so many problems on human rights, democracy, and so on.

The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometers (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline. Burma is the second largest country by geographical area in Southeast Asia¹. Burma, which has a total area of 678,500 square kilometers (262,000 sq mi), is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia, and the 40th-largest in the world.

Basically, there are some differences between Burma and the countries in Southeast Asia.

• Political system

Politically, Burma is led by military junta. Burma has become the only country in Southeast Asia led by military junta. Historically, Burma was a monarchy ruled by various dynasties prior to the 19th century. The British colonized Burma in the late 19th century and it was under the jurisdiction of the British Raj until 1937.

From the time of the signing of the Burmese Constitution in 1948, ethnic minorities have been denied Constitutional rights, access to lands that were traditionally controlled by their peoples and participation in the government. The various minority ethnic groups have been consistently oppressed by the dominant Burman majority, but have also suffered at the hands of warlords and regional ethnic alliances. Religion also plays a role in the ethnic conflicts that have taken place. Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Buddhists all live in Burma. These religious differences have led to several incidents that have affected hundreds of thousands of citizens in Burma. In 1991, approximately 250,000 Muslim Rohingyas (an ethnic group from southwestern Burma) were forced from their homes by Burman forces. They crossed the border into Bangladesh, where they were given refugee status and aid from the international community that was not available to them inside Burma².

Nowadays, the current government of Burma is led by Prime Minister (and General) Thein Sein. This current regime has been responsible for the displacement of several hundred thousand citizens, both inside and outside of Burma. The Karen, Karenni, and Mon ethnic groups have been forced to seek asylum in neighboring Thailand, where they are also abused by an unfriendly and unsympathetic government. The primary actors in these ethnic struggles include but are not limited to the Government of Burma (junta), the Karen National Union and the Mong Tai Army.

So, it’s clearly different talking about political system in Burma compared with other Southeast Asia nations namely Malaysia or Indonesia.

• Democracy

Military junta that has been leading Burma for years influences every aspect of Burmese. One of the most important things is about democracy. We can say that there is no democracy in Burma. For example, Aung San Suu Kyi’s, a democratic warrior, was put into jail by the military junta because of her movement on struggling for democracy. There are still around 2,100 political prisoners in Burma. The country's foreign relations, particularly with Western nations, have been strained. The United States has placed a ban on new investments by U.S. firms, an import ban, and an arms embargo on the Union of Burma, as well as frozen military assets in the United States because of the military regime's ongoing human rights abuses, the ongoing detention of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, and refusal to honor the election results of the 1990 People's Assembly election. Similarly, the European Union has placed sanctions on Burma, including an arms embargo, cessation of trade preferences, and suspension of all aid with the exception of humanitarian aid. U.S. and European government sanctions against the military government, coupled with boycotts and other direct pressure on corporations by supporters of the democracy movement, have resulted in the withdrawal from the country of most U.S. and many European companies. However, several Western companies remain due to loopholes in the sanctions^.

• Economic System

The country is one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement and isolation. Based on the Economist, IMF: Annual average GDP growth for period 2001-2010 was 10.3 percent. For the period, Burma is one of world's top ten Annual average GDP growth.

After a parliamentary government was formed in 1948, Prime Minister U Nu disastrously attempted to make Burma a welfare state and adopted central planning. The 1962 coup d'état was followed by an economic scheme called the Burmese Way to Socialism, a plan to nationalize all industries, with the exception of agriculture. The catastrophic program turned Burma into one of the world's most impoverished countries. Burma's admittance to Least Developed Country status by the UN in 1987 highlighted its economic bankruptcy.

After 1988, the regime retreated from totalitarian rule. It permitted modest expansion of the private sector, allowed some foreign investment, and received needed foreign exchange. The economy is currently rated as the second least free in Asia (one up from North Korea). All fundamental market institutions are suppressed. Private enterprises are often co-owned or indirectly owned by state. The corruption watchdog organization Transparency International in its 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index released on 26 September 2007 ranked Burma the most corrupt country in the world, tied with Somalia.

In recent years, both China and India have attempted to strengthen ties with the government for economic benefit. Many nations, including the United States and Canada, and the European Union, have imposed investment and trade sanctions on Burma. The United States has banned all imports from Burma. Foreign investment comes primarily from People's Republic of China, Singapore, South Korea, India, and Thailand.

Today, the country lacks adequate infrastructure. Goods travel primarily across the Thai border, where most illegal drugs are exported and along the Ayeyarwady River. Railways are old and rudimentary, with few repairs since their construction in the late 19th century. Highways are normally unpaved, except in the major cities. Energy shortages are common throughout the country including in Yangon.

Burma’s economic system is centralized and controlled by the junta. That is why, poverty has become a serious problem in this country. Many people suffer on diseases and disasters, while at the same time the leader of the country spent country’s money to by the share of English football club, Manchester United.

Although Burma has some differences with other Southeast Asia countries, there are also some similarities between the countries.

• Colonialism

Historically, all the countries in Southeast Asia experience the colonialism. Except Thailand, the other countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and other countries have ever been put into colonialism. That is why, there is the same feeling on being colonized.

• Export commodities

In Burma, the major agricultural product is rice which covers about 60% of the country's total cultivated land area. Rice accounts for 97% of total food grain production by weight. Through collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute 52 modern rice varieties were released in the country between 1966 and 1997, helping increase national rice production to 14 million tons in 1987 and to 19 million tons in 1996. By 1988, modern varieties were planted on half of the country's rice-lands, including 98 percent of the irrigated areas. And this is as same as some countries in Southeast Asia, such as Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, or some others. Burma also exports rubber, palm oil, and other plantation crops, as same as other Southeast Asian.

• Ancestral origin

Historically, Burmese’s ancestors also come from South China, makes this Indo-china apparently similar to Chinese, but also lookalikes Malay people. This is as same as other Indo-china countries, such as Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

1 “Burma”, in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma, accessed on April 2^nd 2011

2 “Politics of Burma”, in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Burma, accessed on April 2^nd 2011

HOMEWORK

Subject : International Relations in Southeast Asia

Hermina W. Wulohering (151090093)

Krisantus Tobias Ghena Ona (151090177)