New Mandala

6 responses so far ↓

• 1 jonfernquest // Aug 15, 2007 at 4:48 am

  That sure is a huge chunk of India and Burma that the Naga are laying claim to in their map.

  I wonder what the world would be like if the world split into a bunch of mini-states, assuming everyone could agree on the boundaries?

  Is that where the world’s heading? Would that be the ideal? Could the world be a peaceful place with all these mini ethnic states? There must be places with multiple ethnic claims over time to them, that would be subject to dispute, like in Iraq. What a jigsaw puzzle the world would be? And in a time when all the economic advantages seem to be going to big states like China.

• 2 Lleij Samuel Schwartz // Aug 15, 2007 at 2:25 pm

  Re jon>

  That’s exactly the issue John Robb tackles in his book Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization. Basically, he argues that certain technologies are quickly making the concept of the Westphalian nation-state (and military strategies to defend it) obsolete. If current trends continue, expect to see even more irridentist movements to pop up in the near future. (Again, many of these movements have been around for decades, if not centuries, but for the first time they have the ability to make their claims known to the global community.)

• 3 jonfernquest // Aug 15, 2007 at 6:30 pm

  Thank you for that reference. Despite the failure of Iraq, the west seems to have developed an emotional attachment to “freedom fighters” as witnessed most recently by Rambo and his insightful comments on Burma’s politics (as seen on this blog).

  Successful regime changes that got rid of longstanding dictatorships like Kim Dae Jung and Aquino didn’t require military intervention like Iraq, but did take place in a context of strong ties to expat communities outside the country and also strong diplomatic ties to the west. Burma’s 40-year isolation has precluded that. Economic sanctions continue to rule this sort of influence out. IMHO Burma will remain a backwater, perhaps becoming an even more violent one, until the US starts to engage with the government more. A sudden collapse of that government seems unlikely.

• 4 aiontay // Aug 16, 2007 at 2:01 pm

  While the US, especially under Dubya, isn’t exactly the world’s friendliest government, I think the onus for lack of engagement pretty clearly rests on the military regime that abandons Rangoon for an ag school town. Not that there is anything wrong with ag schools or college towns, but not exactly the best move for engaging the outside world.

  Also, I suspect that the Naga website isn’t being run by people in Burma or India, which points to the fact that there already are expat communities, especially of Burmese ethnic groups; here in Norman, Oklahoma, pretty much the middle of the US of A, the sushi in the local grocery stores are made by Chins from Burma. In my home town of Tulsa there’s a Chin church, which a Maru from Myitkyina attends. Dallas has a Kachin Baptist congregation where one of Maran Brang Seng’s daughter recently got married, and there are a bunch of Karens moving there these days.

  These communities are using the new technologies in an attempt to leverage their agendas, which in some cases certainly have irridentist elements. Interesting times indeed.

• 5 LouisW // Aug 16, 2007 at 9:42 pm

  On NagaLim I have seen only Dutch names under contacts and I believe they are Dutch scholars. The more suspicious it is that such an irredentist idea is uncritically supported on the website. It is quite sad (albeit interesting) that with the age of the internet many ethnic groups embrace the idea of territorialism and boundaries as it is not applicable to Southeast Asia (and other regions) at all where the spatial division is not horizontal but vertical and where multi-ethnic communities are the norm. Ethnonationalism as described by Walker Connor is unfortunately more actual than ever.

• 6 Shiva // Oct 2, 2007 at 2:37 pm

  I’m glad that people are actually discussing the use of technology by groups with irredentist demands. Incidentally my post graduate thesis is titled “Making the Naga Nation – A analysis of nationalist ideologies online.” The study focuses on the internet’s potential to build nations by the transmission of nationalist ideologies etc. In my research I’ve come across many other websites emanating from Nagaland and from Nagas around the world showing how technology indeed is being used to promote distinct ethnic ideologies about the nation and freedom. I’m at the analysis stage now and have chosen 4 websites. It would be quite interesting if more people could share their insights on this issue with me. A different or alternate perspective or opinion is always welcome.

  Reach me @ axeman3@gmail.com

  Regards

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