Today’s Washington Post carries a letter from David I. Steinberg that is relevant to the recent New Mandala conversation about “engagement” with Burma. Readers who maintain interests in United States foreign policy and interactions in various parts of the world may find his perspective particularly interesting.
Steinberg letter on Burma in context
July 2nd, 2007 by Nicholas Farrelly · 2 Comments
Tags: Burma · Trans-Border Issues
2 responses so far ↓
1 jonfernquest // Jul 3, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Thank you for this link. The analogy with the military situation in Pakistan is not one that one immediately thinks of. Too bad Steinberg’s most recent book is apparently nowhere to be found in Thai university libraries which by extension would probably make it unavailable to most people in mainland Southeast Asia:
Turmoil in Burma: Contested Legitimacies in Myanmar (Eastbridge, 2006)
http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=19498
I really don’t understand why scholars don’t donate at least one strategic copy of their book to some important library like Chulalongkorn University or the Siam Society, so it has a chance of being read by people in Southeast Asia and, to their own benefit, maximiizing future citations of their work.
2 Embedded in Islamabad // Jul 3, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Seems everyone is looking to the guiding light of military rule in Pakistan these days. http://ratchasima.net/2007/06/22/pakistans-judiciary-sets-an-example-for-thailand/
If the Pakistan military dictatorship model is going to be used as it is so instructive for other military dictatorships, I suggest that learners first try to figure out why life here is such a mess.
M Bedded in Islamabad
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