SJS7 - "A New Strategy on Myanmar"

Source: Abramowitz, Morton. “A New Strategy on Myanmar.” Current History vol. 107: no. 712. Nov. 2008, pp. 393-394

Author Credentials: This article was written by two people, one being Morton Abramowitz and Jonathan Kolieb. Abramowitz was the former U.S. ambassador to Thailand in the late 70s and deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Kolieb is a lecturer in law and business at RMIT University and has served as a United Nation’s Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

Summary: The article begins by discussing the how much of a disaster Myanmar is in at the moment, and discusses how the people of Myanmar are suffering. Cyclone Nargis had struck Myanmar and the junta was not allowing aid and relief workers to come in. The authors then explain that this causes an international uproar which soon dies down and allows the regime to remain in power. The international community wants the situation in Myanmar to change, but does not do anything in order to implement change. Countries like China, India, and Thailand do not deal with the problems in Myanmar, but are invested in the energy resources that reside there. Myanmar, much like North Korea, is a closed society and the leadership abuses its power over the people as well as uses the wealth for its own personal gain. The article then states that the military power has resisted protests from its people for many years, and the only way Myanmar will be fixed is if it becomes a democratic society. Myanmar in the weeks following the disaster allowed for relief workers to come in as they realized they needed help reconstructing the villages. Myanmar is in need of many other things as well as far as aid goes because the health care system and the educational system are in terrible condition. In order to reconstruct the Irrawaddy Delta the international donor community has to donate $1 billion, but in order to help the country as a whole they will most likely need another billion dollars which Myanmar might not even take. Inside the country there are many organizations working secretly in order to help in the aftermath of the cyclone. In the context of history this is well after independence of Myanmar which was then Burma, but it can be traced back to British imperialism and how the arbitrary boundary lines were drawn up by the British. This lead to conflicts and eventually the military rule which is the state Myanmar was in when this article was written.

Analysis: The authors make a strong argument that Myanmar can not be assisted very much in order to end the military rule, but aid will help the citizens the most. The authors also provide evidence to why aid is the best way to help Myanmar because of how the international community uses Myanmar and can find no way to end the regime. The authors wrote this based off their opinions on how to handle Myanmar, but they do provide facts to support their opinions. I think the authors are reliable sources given their background in human rights studies and international backgrounds.