Book Review: Gravers, M., & Flemming, Y. (Eds.). (2014). Burma/Myanmar—Where now?

Abstract

Book Review: Gravers, M., & Flemming, Y. (Eds.). (2014). Burma/Myanmar-Where now? Copenhagen, Denmark: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. ISBN: 978-87-7694-112-3 -XIV. 447 pages.Myanmar has been ruled by an authoritarian military regime for more than half a century. The Southeast Asian country gained sad notoriety through political repression, massive human rights abuses, armed conflicts, socioeconomic decline, and extreme poverty. This began to change only in 2011 when the junta replaced itself with a quasi-civilian government in order to seek ways out of its political and economic isolation. Thereafter, the country embarked on a new political course of opening up and political liberalization. While the international community has euphorically celebrated Myanmar's self-initiated roadmap to democratization, new and old problems endanger the transitional process. In response to this, Mikael Gravers, an anthropologist and Myanmar scholar, and Flemming Ytzen, a journalist with a long-lasting Burma engagement, put together this ambitious volume taking stock of the current political situation with a thematic focus on conflict resolution, peace building, and democratization. Bringing together the perspectives of 21 academics, journalists, and practitioners, the purpose of this book is to address the attainments and prospects of the transitional process so far, as well as the future challenges and threats lying ahead of the conflict-torn country.The book features three parts and a brief conclusive chapter. Part I, entitled Order and Change (pp. 23-139), guides the reader through the most salient events, developments, and changes of the country's ongoing transition from a military dictatorship to a civil government with all its institutional consequences. Ytzen and Gravers draw a lively picture of the controversial elections of 2012 as well as the upcoming polls of 2015. This is followed by an overview of the altering role of the media and newly emerging space for political engagement. This section also looks at the main actors and key political figures, their interests and strategies, most notably Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), President Thein Sein, the military-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), and the various ethnic minority parties, but also societal forces such as the Tatmadaw (military of the union government), the bureaucracy, the Buddhist Sangha, business interests, and (armed) ethnic groups. Michael Lidauer provides detailed insights into the new constitution and the political administrative system enshrined in it. He highlights the need for more decentralization, constitutional amendments, and corresponding changes in the election system on the way towards a new and more democratic state in Myanmar. Charles Petrie and Ashley South briefly sketch the country's civil society landscape and elucidate the potential role NGOs may play for peace building and democratization. More critically, referring to Myanmar's geostrategic position in the region, Bertil Lintner argues that reforms are embedded in and driven by geopolitical power games and interests that do not necessarily serve the democratic transition in the first place. Subsequently, Josine Legene and Flemming Ytzen describe how global and regional players aligned their foreign policy towards Myanmar throughout its turbulent history. Beyond politics, major social issues are addressed by Marie Ditlevsen, who sheds light on current developments in health and education, while Jessica Harriden elaborates on the situation of women who suffered greatly because of decades of armed conflict and violence. Anna Roberts shows that despite recent legal improvements, the human rights situation remains precarious and has even aggravated in the face of flaring anti-Muslim violence.With almost two hundred pages, Part II, entitled Challenges to Unity (pp. 142- 338), represents the analytical heart of this volume. …