During last year’s uprising against the military dictatorship in Burma I put together a summary of academic opinion. It has continued to serve as a useful resource for readers looking to find out what the world’s scholars made of that all-too-brief period when the world watched Burma and waited for change. The current crisis – which I have no doubt is far from over - has again generated much commentary from academics.
Here I have selected some of the statements made during the past few days. As the humanitarian response to the cyclone continues I expect that experts, of all sorts, will have much more to say.
- The military regime is extraordinarily xenophobic. They are afraid of everything…If they can’t handle the situation and they let Westerners come in with helicopters, this will demonstrate to their own people the shortcomings of the military…They are more concerned with control and maintaining an omniscience in front of their people than saving lives.
- Sean Turnell, Macquarie University quoted in “Observers say Myanmar has history of xenophobia”, Associated Press, 9 May 2008.
- Hell, us nosy, arrogant Americans will ask questions, and maybe lecture them. Other American instincts are optimism, a we-can-do-anything spirit and good will in times of disaster, but this time Myanmar’s leaders are determined to turn help away in order to keep their oppression a state secret. While driving to work, I was stung by the BBC report in which Myanmar warned that international air drops of food and health supplies would be interpreted as “incendiary acts.” Fine. A lot of Americans are feeling less charitable anyway because of $4 per gallon gas here and a chippy democratic election. Anyway, most citizens probably didn’t know there was country that was renamed and now sounds like marshmallow-chocolate treat. Tragically, nothing sweet is going on.
- Wayne Dawkins, Hampton University writing in “The Bitter Taste of Mass Death”, Politics in Color, 11 May 2008.
- The military regime really worries only about keeping the support of the army. It doesn’t care about the people, as can be seen in its failure to respond to the cyclone…
- Win Min, independent academic in Chiang Mai quoted in Emma-Kate Symons, “The deluge to come”, The Australian, 14 May 2008.
- Aid and support must flow freely, massively, competently and quickly, regardless of social class, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of whether or not it was invited. Will disasters continue to strike and affect us? Definitely. Will logistics, planning, response and communication again prove not adequate enough? Possibly. Lessons will continue to be drawn from our mistakes as well as from our successes. Those lessons need to inform future preparedness and response and will have to be offered to and, if necessary, pushed upon those in immediate need. Systems may fail. However, humanity cannot.
- Andrea Allen, Barry University writing in “Valuable lessons should be learned from natural disasters like Myanmar”, The Sun-Sentinel, 12 May 2008.
- They believe that the countries of the outside world are eager to defeat them and take over their country
- Josef Silverstein, Rutgers University quoted in Marcus Gee, “Myanmar’s generals are ruled by paranoia”, The Globe and Mail, 13 May 2008.
- That said, if intervention does not take place, we should be honest with ourselves and ditch any pretence that the “responsibility to protect” and the “liberal humanitarian project” mean anything beyond generating warm and fuzzy sensations for Western academics. We should be urging governments to consider the long-term moral implications of not intervening in Burma to prevent the certain deaths of tens of thousands of children and adults from the fury of nature and the epic callousness of their own Government.
- Andrew O’Neil, Flinders University writing in “Kosovo aid the model”, The Australian, 14 May 2008.
- The government’s very bad; they’re dictators…The food and supplies will get to the people, but the whole amount will not be given to them. They (survivors) have no choice…Even if the villagers think it’s wrong, they don’t dare utter anything because they’d be in trouble…If anyone went against them (the government), they’d arrest them, torture them and keep them in prison.
- Angelene Naw, Judson University quoted in Erin Calandriello, “Judson U. prof from Myanmar seeks storm aid”, The Courier News, 13 May 2008.
- And the fourth one, probably the most important one, is the military regimes inside — within the military regime, there is a humane leaders — there are humane leaders within the regime, and there are the people who disagree with the top generals, but they are living in their lifeline. So I think this…
- Tun Myint, Carleton College interviewed on NewsHour’s “Myanmar’s Rulers Hold Tight to Power Amid Cyclone Crisis”, 12 May 2008.
Other interesting comments by academics include:
- Monique Skidmore (Australian National University)
- David Steinberg (Georgetown University)
The list of experts available for comment from the University of Michigan also makes for interesting reading. Over the coming days, and if there is demand, I am happy to update this consolidated document for those who find it useful. It has been assembled in something of a hurry and as a result any omissions or apparent biases are, I assure you, quite unintentional.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Grasshopper // May 14, 2008 at 11:03 am
I agree with my old lecturer Andrew O’Neil, that certainly there are grounds for intervening – but what are the moral implications for imperialism and cultural hegemony? Maybe liberalism is a universal, but I think many Westerners (who are inadvertantly liberals) don’t communicate it very respectfully so as to remove cultural pretext from communication which subsequently fosters this ‘down with the imperialists’ attitude that has fueled the Junta for so long.
Surely the best way to resolve the situation whilst maintaining maximum moral integrity from all angles is to engage with the Junta and buy them out with praise, pay them lip service – that they are right, we are horrible bastards and they can have all the face and jewls — like U Po Kyin from Burmese Days — that they can imagine. We can have a ‘faith’ (ooh the -other- F word) that their karma will see them return as the drain pipes for the new Yangon sewage system. I don’t mind being called names, or calling myself names so that people in Burma/Myanmar have a better standard of living- why does the UN? It is a contest of legitimacy from both sides, not a concerted effort to have people drink clean water.
2 Stephen // May 14, 2008 at 12:23 pm
While not academics, per se, I would recommend an additional two commentaries on the Cyclone.
“Why Myanmar’s junta steals foreign aid,” Asia Times Online, May 14th 2008.
“Facing up to our responsibilities,” Gareth Evans, The Guardian, May 12th 2008.
3 Nicholas Farrelly // May 14, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Thanks Stephen,
Perhaps I should just emphasise that readers who come across other commentaries can feel free to post an extract, and a link, here. The more the merrier, in these sad times.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
4 Global Voices Online » Myanmar: Voices through Tweets // May 14, 2008 at 11:20 pm
[...] Aftermath, listing many blog feeds, twitter accounts and news posts. New Mandala compiles the academic commentary of the cyclone Nargis, “As the humanitarian response to the cyclone continues I expect that experts, of all sorts, [...]
5 Sidh S. // May 15, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Cyclone Nargis and the Myanmar Junta’s response are clearly some of the most frustrating and deeply disturbing events of recent years. I remember being similarly frustrated during Louisiana’s disaster and the incompetence of the Bush government – but this is a totally different scale. It a manifestation of the worse socio-political culture extremities and the Junta are not concerned about anything else but their own survival. This is not merely some of the worse crimes against humanity committed on their own citizens but also obvious signs of a ‘failed state’. The Myanmese people has demanded and deserve much better alternatives but are, in effect, being held hostage by 400,000 armed men controlled by an evil elite hallucinating in self-aggrandization (by comparison at least Saddam and his Baathe Party seem to know the basics of running a country). Are these grounds for more forceful intervention (and the very difficult question of what extent)? For the sake of saving lifes, I think so.
6 Stephen // May 15, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Again not academic, but the Karen Human Rights Group put (KHRG) put out a commentary yesterday.
“Is the SPDC diverting aid on ethnic grounds?,” KHRG, May 14th 2008.
7 Update on Burma-Related Postings « deathpower // May 16, 2008 at 1:57 am
[...] those more interested in what academics have to say on the issues, there’s a growing collection of commentary, some of which has been [...]
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