Military Junta Research Articles

Humanitarian Activism, Social Protection, and Emergent Citizenship in Myanmar

Through the confluent impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2021 military coup, Myanmar has become a failed state. Deliberate targeting of humanitarian actors by the military junta has severely constrained the activities of international non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies. In the first three post-coup years, welfare provision to the distressed and displaced were mainly undertaken by local actors who adapted to new conditions of both insecurity and broader economic turmoil. This localised welfare is intertwined with emergent local governance mechanisms, using technology and data analysis to deliver transparent, accountable, and inclusive public service. In the absence of a coherent central state, the social contract of welfare develops at more local levels, generating smaller islands of citizenship from which to build future political communities.

Interviews with guerrilla leaders and military commanders in Latin America, 1959 to the 2000s

ABSTRACT In Latin America and the Caribbean, the period of the Cold War was characterized by coups d’état, revolts by competing military juntas, and anti-communist dictatorships. It was also a time of revolutionaries and insurgents, students taking up arms, churchgoers converted into radical rebels, Catholic priests and nuns transformed into guerrilleros, slum dwellers becoming members of underground leftist movements, and peasant associations joining insurrectional movements. Young people became radicalized, youth wings of political parties joined the underground resistance, and liberation movements appeared in nearly all of the countries in Latin American and in several Caribbean island states. Rather than provide any hypothesis about this insurgency and military counter-insurgency, this article draws attention to an additional layer of oral history by reviewing older, original documents and recording extensive interviews with key figures, giving voice to several operatives who hold direct insights into the workings of these movements over a long period of time.

Strategic Dynamics of India-Myanmar Relations: An Assessment

Relationships between India and Myanmar are based on common historical, ethnic, cultural, and religious experiences. The relationship between Myanmar and India has been cordial over time. The two nations' proximity has also promoted and maintained friendly relations and allowed for more interpersonal interaction. However, in the existing situation, relations seem to be hampered due to changes in geopolitical and geostrategic aspects. The Government of India (GOI) decided to end the Free Regime Movement (FMR) between India and Myanmar on February 08, 2024, to preserve the demographic makeup of the Northeastern states and to safeguard national security. Since New Delhi decided to fence the 1,643 km long border between India and Myanmar, the basic cause behind this decision is to prevent external aggression that may prove detrimental to the regional stability of the region. Myanmar is important to India both strategically and economically given its location. The nation is essential to India's ambitions to use its Act East Policy (AEP) to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, particularly among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). However, since the military took over in February 2021, political unrest has been present in Myanmar. The Arakan Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and the Myanmar National Democratic Army launched "Operation 1027" on October 27, 2023, against the military Junta, which further intensified the unrest and hampered India's AEP's main goals.

Unwilling allies: the USSR, the Communist Party of Argentina, and the military dictatorship in Argentina, 1976–1983

The author of this article aims to explore the complex and contradictory relationship between the Communist Party of Argentina, the Soviet Union, and the military regime in Argentina between 1976 and 1983. It was a period of right-wing military dictatorship domination in the region, characterised by outright terrorist policies against left-wing forces, mass violations of human rights, which put the International Communist Movement in an ambiguous position due to the USSR’s close cooperation with the Argentine military junta. A unique situation of mutual interest between Soviet foreign policy and the military dictatorship developed in the USSR’s relations with the military regime in Argentina. The most important factor in this contradictory situation was the position of the Communist Party of Argentina, supported by the CPSU, on co-operation with a regime that other communist parties and leftist forces qualified as fascist, ultra-reactionary, and anti-communist. The USSR found moral and political justification for its cooperation with the Argentine regime in the policies of local communists who supported the regime, justifying its repression of leftist radical movements, especially the Montoneros. The Argentine Communist Party justified its policy by referring to the junta’s growing cooperation with the USSR. The article explores the reasons for this policy of the Communist Party, which caused tension in the international communist movement and the subsequent isolation of the Argentinian Communist Party. The specific political interests of the USSR were supported by the Argentine communists, who, in turn, saw in them a guarantee of their interests in the conditions of the harsh right-wing military regime in the country. For the first time in historiography, this paper, drawing on records from the archive of the CPSU Central Committee, documents the complex process of reconciling the USSR’s economic and political interests in Argentina during this difficult period of the Cold War.

Learning the lessons of Afghanistan?: the changing prospects of negotiations between JNIM and the Malian government

ABSTRACT This paper considers the negotiation strategies of the Taliban in Afghanistan and JNIM in Mali. It examines negotiation paths, whether jihadists learn from each other, and why some negotiations succeed over others. The Taliban’s strategy inspired JNIM, but while the Taliban secured the USA’s withdrawal in Afghanistan, JNIM has suffered from contextual churn in Mali. France vacated Mali, coups installed a military junta, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara is growing, and Russia’s Wagner Group is ascending. It has been difficult to identify parties to negotiate with and unlikely that any type of accommodation will be reached soon.

The Military Coup in Niger Republic

Abstract On 26 July 2023, Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger, was deposed by a military coup masterminded by members of his presidential guard. The military junta dissolved the government and on 28 July General Abdourahmane Tchiani, head of the presidential guard, was pronounced Niger’s military leader. Since the coup, there have been widespread responses and reactions (local and international) to the political developments in the Niger Republic. This article uses secondary sources of data to argue that the coup was not an expression of displeasure against democracy, neither did it show solidarity for an authoritarian system. It was a symptom of the failure of democracy, including the operations of its proponents (the West, and France in particular) in the Sahel. The widespread jubilation emanated from the hope that the military leadership would put in place measures to ameliorate the security and economic woes of the country. The study concludes that the security and socioeconomic improvement of the Niger Republic is not tied to either a democratic or autocratic system of government, as proclaimed in international politics by the West, especially the US and France, and Russia and China.

Land development and planning laws in ghana: the historical perspective

This article examines Ghana's land development and planning laws from a historical perspective. The methodology involves a documentary study of historical records to explore the evolution of these laws, spanning from the colonial period to the present. Through this approach it sheds light on significant milestones such as the 1988 local government changes, the land use decree's implementation by military juntas, and the identified deficiencies in the decree pertaining to physical planning. The expositions from this study show that Ghana has over the years adopted many land development and planning laws, that there is a visible demand for land among people and a desire by developers to use their land. The topic of planning is thus a significant area for stakeholders in Ghana. The study, therefore, recommends that, given the fact that land development and planning laws are here to stay, and that people are the primary drivers of social change, these laws should respect the culture and norms of the people, and should as well always incorporate active public engagement for stakeholders to feel a sense of ownership and belongingness in the entire process.

POLITICAL POWER, AUTHORITY AND LEGITIMACY: ANALYSING THE INCONSISTENCY OF MILITARY RULE WITH DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN WEST AFRICA

On January 28, 2024, the media came alive with the news of the three Francophone West African countries leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Before this, the military junta of the Niger Republic had approached the ECOWAS Court of Justice praying for the lift of sanctions imposed upon them by the ECOWAS, the quest to lift these sanctions failed because the court made it clear that it recognizes only democratic government as the only legitimate government. The three questions that this article seeks to answer are whether there is any country in West Africa with a democratic military government, whether the military juntas of these countries can withdraw from ECOWAS through media announcements, and whether their withdrawal from ECOWAS has implications. To answer these questions, this article examines the concept of political power, authority, and legitimacy by adopting theoretical and doctrinal study of primary sources and secondary sources. This study examines and evaluates information and provisions contained in international treaties, conventions and protocols, journal articles, books, newspapers, and materials sourced from the internet.

Elite strategy in resilient authoritarianism: Equatorial Guinea, 1979–2023

ABSTRACT The Equatoguinean dictatorship under Teodoro Obiang Nguema has spanned forty-four years, making him the longest-serving current head of state. Since his entry to power through a 1979 coup, Obiang has evolved in his style of governance. First ruling through a military junta, then a single-party regime, and finally competitive authoritarianism. Across these eras, he has relied on a cadre of supporting elites to occupy top spots in the state administration. Has his strategy of retaining and dismissing these top elites evolved with his broader style of governance? What features has he looked for over time to signal loyalty? We explore these questions using original individual-level data on all ruling elites in Equatorial Guinea from 1979 to 2023. Drawing on a suite of biographical variables, we find evidence that certain professional and personal traits have made elites less likely to be dismissed at different eras of Obiang’s rule. However, co-regionality has been an enduring preference in his elite strategy, suggesting his preference for friends from “back home.” These findings demonstrate how elite strategies of dictators move beyond the ethnocentric and evolve alongside broader regime characteristics.

Re-Contextualizing Stage Politics: Interrogating Shakespeare’s Hamlet In Uruguay

For the spectator initiated in the political aspect of the Shakespearean theatre, Carlos Manuel Varela’s Interrogatorio en Elsinore proposes “a kind of extended palimpsest” of Hamlet that connects on stage a troubled, fictional Elsinore to the traumatic reality of Uruguay during the military junta. For the reader fascinated by comparative literary studies and implicated in the theatre world, Interrogatorio en Elsinore resonates with the Bulgarian playwright Nedjalko Iordanov’s the Murder of Gonzago by drawing from parallel extreme ideologies of neo-fascist and communist dictatorships and their institutionalized regime of terror. Both plays showcase the potential of the performance in Hamlet to underpin the role of the artist in the political landscape. Applied to Interrogatorio en Elsinore, such reflections lead the initiated spectator to conclude that Varela’s play proposes a Hamlet who connects on stage a troubled, fictional Elsinore to the traumatic reality of Uruguay.

Critical policy discourse analysis on the conflict resolution in Thailand’s deep South

This study analyzes discourse on conflict resolutions in Thailand’s Deep South. It is based on the critical concept that discourse defines gazing and codification of problem issues with specified language, signs, and taxonomy. Public policy is dependent on these constructed things leading to problematization, agenda-making, and solutions. National strategies and integrated programs to rectify the problem of the Deep South were designed and implemented by Thailand’s 2014–2019 military junta, but in the process, it confronted dialectical relations between discursive policy and other elements. Based on the empirical research, the article shows that the hegemonic discourse of Thailand’s military junta after 2014 coup led to discourse about the efficient command and control of state administration. The consequent dynamic process of discourse had evolved around this discursive power and formulated the strong public policy statement about integrated program to rectify problems in the Deep South. But local people have different argumentation from the state, which is possible to transform to a new policy problematization and contestation of the hegemony.

Thailand’s new soft power focus and the makings of a paradox

Soft power, obtained when a state develops the ability to attract rather than coerce other actors because of the legitimacy of its values, has been on the national agenda in Thailand since 2010, when efforts were made to expand the Kingdom’s creative industries. However, under nearly a decade of military rule after the May 2014 coup d‘état, Thailand focused largely inward in order to secure its legitimacy and survival, consequently curtailing soft gains. The military junta frequently targeted public dissent, including Thai activist rappers Danupa “Milli” Kanaterrakul and Rap Against Dictatorship (RAD). This article reviews soft power and state repression during the Prayut Chan-o-cha era and makes two critical arguments, that nation branding and soft power, related concepts, require a degree of authenticity and that Thailand’s soft power is increasingly outside of the government’s ability to completely control. Consequently, in a new semi-democratic environment under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, successful soft power and nation branding efforts are likely to occur outside the Kingdom’s ideological constraints or self-serving elite interests or risk an unwanted paradox and an operating environment contradictory to either objective.

The Power Struggle Between the Military Junta and Democracy in Myanmar

Ever since the first coup by the military forces in 1962, Myanmar has stood out among the Southeast Asian nations due to the prolonged political turmoil between the ever-powerful junta and the rising forces of the people, assisted by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party who demanded democracy. These clashes have profoundly affected the country’s socio-economic and politics for decades. Hence, to find the root of this long-ongoing conflict, this paper examines the historical timeline of the friction between the two factions, the military junta (Tatmadaw), and the general population from the post-independent years until now. The study analyses various aspects, including the ethnic tension, the formation of Tatmadaw, the events leading to three military coups, and the people with their multiple uprisings. This paper also sheds light on the leading party, NLD, especially on the central figure, Aung San Suu Kyi, who became the voice of democracy. Overall, this study mainly used the library research method and a content-analysis approach to gather information and assess the dynamic relations between the two forces and how the power struggle remains well into the 21st century.

Child-Taking

A ruling group at times takes certain children out of their community and then tries to remake them in its image. It tries to rid the child of undesired differences, in ethnicity or nationality, religion or politics, race or ancestry, culture or class. There are too many examples: the colonialist residential schools that forced settler cultures on Indigenous children; the military juntas that kidnapped dissidents’ children; and today’s reports of abductions amid crises like that in Syria. Too often nothing is done, and the children are lost. But that may be changing, as the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) is seeking to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for the war crimes of unlawfully deporting or transferring children from Ukraine to Russia. This article examines the criminal phenomenon that it names “child-taking.” By its definition, the crime occurs when a state or similar powerful entity, first, takes a child, and second, endeavors, whether successfully or not, to alter, erase, or remake the child’s identity. Using the ICC case as a springboard, this article relies on historical and legal events to produce an original account of child-taking. Newly available trial transcripts help bring to life a bereft mother and five teenaged survivors, plus the lone woman defendant, who testified at a little-known child-kidnapping trial before a postwar Nuremberg tribunal. Their stories, viewed in the context of the evolution of international child law, inform this article’s definition. These sources further reveal child-taking to be what the law calls a matter of international concern. At its most serious, child-taking may constitute genocide or another crime within the ICC’s jurisdiction. Yet even if circumstances preclude punishment in that permanent criminal court, child-taking remains a grave offense warranting prosecution or other forms of local and global transitional justice. This is as true for the Indigenous children of residential schools in North America, Australia, and elsewhere, and for children in Syria and many other places in the world, as it is for the children of Ukraine.

The Cause of Diplomatic Failure in the Sahel Region and the Rising Coups

This paper examines the reasons of diplomatic failure amid the rising coups in the Sahel region. Five countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Chad, Niger and Gambia) are currently governed or ruled by military juntas after the regional actors for instance, ECOWAS (Economic Committee of West African States) and AU (African Unity) have failed to explore any successful diplomatic strategy to annex the situation. Reasons accounting for the rising coups in the region are different depending on the country, generally, they include, lack of leadership and political will, historical legacies, weak institutions and governance, the abundance of resources, mistrust, economic hardships, unemployment, inadequate basic amenities and many others. The region currently is experiencing a combination of climate, food insecurity, armed conflicts, and demographic shocks with significant socio-economic consequences, and according to Plan International for West Africa, an NGO (Non-governmental organization), indicates that, more than 9.7 million people are food insecure in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, as of December 2022, and 600,000 children are already suffering from acute malnutrition (Harsch 2017). Diplomacy in Africa (Sahel) has experienced some of its failures due to a convergence of factors such as: the quality of diplomacy and mediators; the ubiquity of conflicts; the continent’s lack of international influence; Africa’s dependence on external actors and; subsequent lack of assertiveness and the inability to stand up to errant leaders within the region whose actions threaten good governance and regional security. Therefore, the article will further detail the cause of rising coups in the Sahel region and recommend sustainable diplomatic measures to the regional actors.

Myanmar’s escalating civil war : Implications for India’s ‘Act East’ policy

Since the February 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar, the nation has descended into a relentless cycle of armed conflict, insurgency, and anarchy, diminishing hopes for an immediate cessation of hostilities or a return to democracy. Despite calls from regional bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations to halt violence and respect democratic processes, the Burmese military junta has shown no willingness for political concessions or negotiations with the resistance movement. This situation raises concerns about Myanmar becoming a potential flashpoint in Asia, as Western and Chinese involvement supporting rival stakeholders intensifies. While China and Russia seem committed to sustaining the military junta, Western powers advocate for an end to military rule, emphasizing a return to democracy and restructuring Myanmar's federal system to grant autonomy to minority-dominated provinces. The unfolding scenario aligns with Bertil Lintner's concept of the "Great Game East," signifying an increased geopolitical struggle in the region.

Analysis of the Role of Indonesia's Active Free Diplomacy in Resolving the Rohingya Conflict

The conflict between the Myanmar government led by a military junta and the Rohingya Muslim tribe is one of the most tragic and heartbreaking human tragedies. The suffering experienced by the Rohingya tribe certainly hurts security in the Southeast Asia region. This research aims to find out how Indonesian diplomacy based on the principle of free and active foreign policy can resolve the Rohingya conflict in Myanmar. The humanitarian conflict affecting the Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar has raised deep concern among the international community, including Indonesia. Diplomacy is an important instrument in implementing a country's foreign policy. Successful diplomacy can add value to a country and improve its image in the eyes of the world. This research uses a qualitative approach with a literature study method. The data sources for this research are books and journals related to analyzing the role of Indonesia's free and active diplomacy in resolving the Rohingya conflict. The results of this research indicate that to increase the success of Indonesian diplomacy in resolving the Rohingya conflict, more intensive and comprehensive efforts are needed. Indonesia needs to work together with other countries at various levels to encourage the Myanmar government to resolve the conflict peacefully and fairly by human rights principles.

Bonne gouvernance et culture de la paix dans la démocratie : question de méthode

"Today, like never before, humanity is developing a fear of self-destruction. After the development of atomic weapons, the current nuclear weapon, although considered a weapon of deterrence, threatens the world with an apocalypse from which it could not recover. Faced with this situation, after the second war, the ultimate question nagging people's minds is the following: what weapon would be used in the next war? As a result, saving humanity from the catastrophe that is looming on the horizon requires recourse to the founding values of good governance and the culture of peace. Despite the old European democracy and the emerging African democracies, we still wonder about the trajectories to take to combine peace in a world which, more and more, is heading towards its extinction. With the current Russian-Ukrainian conflicts, introducing a war at the doorstep of Europe, as well as the putsches recorded in Africa, with the establishment of military juntas, the case of Mali in 2020 and 2021, of Guinea in 2021, of Niger and Burkina Faso in 2022, of Gabon in 2023, also the increase in the authoritarian regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Rwanda, without forgetting the establishment of the ghost state in the Central African Republic, etc. there is reason to question the idealistic and realistic aims of democratic values. History has made democracy not only a system of management of public affairs par excellence, but also a way of living and a way of being. Founded on the values of freedom and tolerance, democratization requires our appropriate resolution to expose a systematic method that can lead to the construction of a culture dedicated to dialogue and the peaceful management of conflicts. Democratization, through the combination of good governance and the culture of peace, constitutes a process which requires a method bringing together both a part linked to the form, relating to the political and institutional organization, and a part linked to the substance, relating to the behavior of political actors. Keywords : Democracy, liberalism, socialism, conflict management, good governance"

The role of India as one of the key arms exporters to Myanmar (february 2021 - may 2023)

The paper raises a question of weapon transfer to Myanmar over the past 2 years. In such dynamic process India was one of the key weapon suppliers to Myanmar military junta. The article describes the political reasons of Indian cooperation with military government of Myanmar in the field of arms transfer. The potential risks of such cooperation are also indicated. The paper highlights the statistical information related to weapons transfer from India to Myanmar.

Geo-enabled election for efficient management of election processes in Du District of Plateau

One of the major reasons adduced by the military junta in the recent waves of coup-d’etat experienced in Africa and some West-Africa sub-region was floored election process hence the need for geo-enabled election process that is vivid. The aim of this article is to geo-enabled the entire election process by delineating and standardizing electoral Constituencies and Wards to a convenient size that is relative to the demographic characteristics. The fidelity of an election process in Nigeria can only be preserved and sustained by geo-enabling the entire process in phases. The recent past election trajectory in Nigeria revealed different election maleficent that defiled all election protocols and standards. The three key stakeholders involved in election processes may not be exonerated from these election improprieties especially the political pundits and the election management body (INEC), because of their varying interests; although there are some gullible electorates willing to mortgage their votes for a morsel of bread. The article demonstrated a proto-type geo-enabled election process of Du district (constituency) in Jos South LGA of Plateau State by using GIS and GPNAS to structure both spatial and attribute election data in order to delineate effectively constituency and ward boundaries and carry all stakeholders along. The result include Constituency map with a well defined boundary, roads linking ballot places; ward maps and table showing the geographic coordinates of ballot areas. The article has unveiled to all the stakeholders what to expect from the election umpire, navigate to ballot places and how to plan effectively before, during and after election.