Democracy Activism and Assistance in Burma

Abstract

The assistance community supporting democratic transition in Burma tends to contrast the relative importance of the political opposition Burma against the political opposition based of the country. In shorthand, this is called inside and outside work, and it carries normative and funding implications. Instead of that dichotomy, this article recommends of as an analytical approach better suited to understanding democracy activities and assistance in Burma. Pro-democracy activities supporting self-determination in Burma radiate from three primary sites of resistance: opposition from Burma, opposition in countries bordering Burma, and the international opposition. Democracy assistance supports democrats and their activities at all three resistance sites. The article describes each of them and concludes with a broad picture of what democracy assistance can and cannot do in the case of Burma.BACKGROUNDBurma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962 and democracy assistance is based upon supporting transition to a democratic system. After nearly 20 years of democracy assistance there is no evidence of evolution towards democracy, although, as will be discussed below, gains have been made within the political movement and civil society. The evidence is that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Burma's ruling military junta, has entrenched itself throughout its time in power, and that it has enriched its leaders and consolidated their hold on power/ The saffron protests of September 2007 highlighted the potential for a revolutionary means of democratic transition. Despite the brutal outcome, these protests reminded the world of widespread internal disapproval of the military regime and the latent ability of the population to rise up in protest. Despite the parliamentary election planned for 2010, there is nothing to suggest the military in Burma intends to hand to a democratically elected civilian government. Unlike other post-Cold War regimes, the state is not dissolving in Burma, but rather continues to consolidate and expand.2State expansion is contested in several ways. While the largest prodemocracy protests thus far occurred in 1988 and 2007, protests also occurred in 1962, 1974, and 1996. Each protest ended in a violent reassertion of control by the military government. In addition to the demonstrations led by civilians, armed groups have fought the government since 1948. Most of the armed resistance groups, which were founded initially in the struggle for independence, continue to fight for state autonomy in a federal, democratic Burma.3When the 1988 protests in Burma erupted, the country was isolated from the world and little information about the protests was available to of a small group of Burma watchers and scholars. Other international events - the fall of the Berlin wall, the Tiananmen Square protests, and the ending of apartheid in South Africa - captured international attention at the end of the decade. Approximately 8000 to 10,000 students fled to the borders of Burma after 1988.4 Many took up arms by joining existing ethnic revolutionary forces and the newly created All Burma Students Defense Force.Democracy assistance began in 1991, with American nonviolent struggle strategists from the Albert Einstein Institute and Nonviolence International coming to border areas. During these visits, they worked with the exiled opposition to develop a unified strategy of Burmese people power using nonviolent tactics. They also helped develop an international community component to press for diplomatic and economic strategies to weaken support for the regime.5 Over the past 20 years, democracy assistance programs have been implemented by numerous nonprofit organizations receiving funds from Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the United States, as weU as from private foundations. …