The show goes on. The military has a clear vision of what kind of state Burma should be—and that is not a democracy. It is sometimes argued that the hopes for a more pluralistic society rest on the next generation army officers. Aware of this danger, officers have been given unprecedented privileges and business opportunities [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Than Shwe'
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
November 4th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 17 Comments
Tags: Burma · Militaries · Than Shwe
Beyond brittle Burma boycotts
October 28th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 6 Comments
David Scott Mathieson, the Human Rights Watch “Burma-watcher”, has written an essay on Australian approaches to Burma. From certain perspectives I expect this would be considered a parochial matter. But my sense is that the current debate here in Australia around, crudely, “sanctions” and “engagement” is one that speaks to the wider yearning for a [...]
Tags: Aung San Suu Kyi · Burma · Economics · Militaries · Than Shwe · Trans-Border Issues
Building Naypyidaw
October 18th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · Add a Comment
The capital’s labour force is still busy constructing the capital’s future – an impressive parliament complex and a presidential house are emerging in anticipation of the 2010 general elections. The total cost of building Naypyidaw remains a mystery, although a local businessman points out that about $2 million has been spent for each high-ranking official’s [...]
Tags: Burma · Economics · Than Shwe
One man to rule them all
October 14th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 22 Comments
Right at the end of the recent TIME cover-story about Than Shwe I was surprised to learn that “[o]ne man controls everything that happens in Burma.”
While I appreciate the intent of this jab — and recognise the significance of TIME’s biographical article — it strikes me as a big, almost impossible, thesis. Certainly, Than Shwe [...]
Success for the Burma sanctions campaign?
October 13th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 8 Comments
According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, a big Australian fashion company that owns iconic brands including Millers and Katies has stopped sourcing products from Burma in response to Australian Council of Trade Unions/Burma Campaign Australia pressure. The relevant press release is available here. Trumpeting this success, Burma Campaign Australia spokesperson, Zetty Brake, argued that, “Corporate Australia [...]
Tags: Aung San Suu Kyi · Burma · Economics · Militaries · Than Shwe
Rethinking the Burmese sanctions
October 12th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 2 Comments
On Saturday I had an article in The Canberra Times that surveys Burma policy and the ongoing sanctions debate. A slightly revised version of the article is available here at Inside Story. One of the key sections argues that:
On the one hand any such change in United States policy will be greeted as a victory [...]
Tags: Aung San Suu Kyi · Burma · Elections · Than Shwe · Trans-Border Issues
Vicary and Turnell on Burma sanctions
October 6th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 15 Comments
Adding their voices to the current debate about sanctions against the Burmese government, Alison Vicary and Sean Turnell have used an opinion piece in The Age to argue that “[l]ifting economic sanctions now would not only embolden Burma’s present reform-shy regime, but also greatly deleverage the ability of the US, Australia and like-minded countries to [...]
Tags: Burma · Burma uprising · Militaries · Than Shwe
Burma-U.S. relations
October 1st, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 1 Comment
In terms of engagement, we intend to begin a direct dialogue with Burmese authorities to lay out a path towards better relations. The dialogue will include specific discussion of democracy and human rights inside Burma, cooperation on international security issues such as nonproliferation and compliance with 1874 and 1718, and areas that could be of [...]
Tags: Aung San Suu Kyi · Burma · Militaries · Than Shwe · Trans-Border Issues
Burma sanctions: limited, Western, symbolic
September 29th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 18 Comments
Those New Mandala readers who follow debates about economic sanctions against the Burmese government will be intrigued by this current flare-up in Australia.
The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sharan Burrow, is lobbying for Jetstar to stop its flights to the country. All of the usual arguments for beefing up sanctions against Burma are [...]
Tags: Aung San Suu Kyi · Burma · Militaries · Than Shwe · Trans-Border Issues
Supplying weapons to Burma
August 26th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · Add a Comment
Demands for an international blockade against weapons sales to Burma, in response to the military regime’s detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, will face difficult challenges from defiant Chinese, Russian, East European and North Korean arms dealers…Burma’s weapons purchases remain mostly shrouded, and many agreements are difficult to confirm.
- Extracted from Richard S. Ehrlich, “Foreign [...]
Tags: Burma · Militaries · Than Shwe · Trans-Border Issues









