International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

State Racism meets neoliberalism

Carlos SardiÃ±a Galache — 2018-01-23T07:28:43Z

Burma â€” officially known as Myanmar â€” celebrated the seventieth anniversary of its independence at a moment when the failures of its incomplete nation-building project have become increasingly evident.

- IV516 - January 2018 / Economy, Burma, National question, Racism and Islamophobia

Militant Buddhism is on the march in South-East Asia – where did it come from?

2017-11-19T09:06:06Z

Even ten years on, the first mental image that comes to mind with regard to Therav?da Buddhism is that of Myanmar's Saffron Revolution of August-September 2007: thousands of Buddhist monks peacefully demonstrating in the streets of Yangon, Mandalay, Pakokku, Sittwe and other towns against the ruling military junta. These peaceful monks still exist, although many of them went into hiding, or fled abroad. But the Burmese monks in the headlines today are preaching violence instead of peace, and “firm action” instead of meditation.

- IV514 - November 2017 / Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma

The Rohingya, the Burmese regime and the geopolitical stakes

Pierre Rousset — 2017-09-26T06:05:42Z

The Burmese government is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, who are being driven out of the country. Never has the persecution of this Muslim minority reached such a level of violence. The nature of the Burmese regime, the policy of land grabbing and the geopolitical stakes are largely responsible for the paroxysmal nature of this humanitarian crisis.

- IV512 - September 2017 / Burma

Series of by-elections held

Danielle Sabai — 2012-04-29T10:31:38Z

On April 1 by-elections were held in Burma to fill 48 vacant seats in Parliament. The National League for Democracy (LND) led by the Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi won 43 out of the 44 seats that it contested. The result was greeted unanimously by the international press as a victory for democracy.

- IV447 - April 2012 / Burma

What new wind is blowing in Burma?

Danielle Sabai — 2012-02-04T13:04:24Z

What is happening in Burma? On January 12 a presidential amnesty led to the release of approximately 300 political prisoners. A strong gesture which seems to want to send a message to the country and to the international community that Burma is taking the road of democracy. This announcement comes in a political context of significant change on at least three levels: the political scene and relations with the opposition; the question of the armed ethnic groups who are at war with the Burmese state; and international relations.

- IV445 - February 2012 / Burma

Is change possible in Burma?

Danielle Sabai — 2010-11-08T18:26:57Z

In Burma, more than twenty years have passed since the last election on May 27, 1990. The military junta refused to recognize the outcome of the elections, won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party formed two years earlier by the Burmese oppositionist Aung San Suu Kyi.

- IV430 - November 2010 / Burma

Burma: Alcatel in troubled waters

Danielle Sabai — 2010-04-03T15:00:46Z

No political progress has accompanied multinational investment in Burma. It has rather favoured a phenomenal enrichment of the ruling generals and their maintenance in power. The “constructive engagement” preached by the nations of southeast Asia has failed. The only language the Burmese regime understands is that of sanctions, in particular a ban on investment in the sectors which are most lucrative for the junta: rare woods, precious stones, minerals, oil and gas.

- IV423 - April 2010 / Burma

Wave of solidarity forces regime to retreat on cyclone aid

Mark Johnson — 2008-05-22T15:02:58Z

Media reports have neglected the most important source of aid to victims
of cyclone Nargis - spontaneous donations from their fellow citizens.

- IV400 - May 2008 / Ecology and the Environment, Solidarity after disasters , Burma

Aid and Hypocrisy

Mark Johnson — 2008-05-09T17:31:26Z

Response to the tropical cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar on 3 May 2008
has been hijacked by vested interests on all sides, leaving millions of
Asia's poorest people without any effective aid.

- IV400 - May 2008 / Solidarity after disasters , Burma

The Burmese crisis, its roots and the urgency of solidarity

Danielle Sabai — 2007-10-28T19:00:49Z

Demonstrations are rare things in Burma. Under the yoke of a military junta which is among the most repressive in the world, the population has not forgotten the violence of the repression of the demonstrations for democracy in 1988 which ended in the death of at least 3,000 demonstrators and thousands of arrests.

- IV393 - October 2007 / Burma