Burma

Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw

Why Are Buddhists Attacking Muslims?

Alan Strathern, BBC News

Alan Strathern, BBC News

Peter Coclanis, WAJ

Think Buddhists Are Pacifists? Nope

Christian Caryl, Foreign Policy

The global climate is crucial. People believe radical Islam to be at the centre of the many of the most violent conflicts around the world. They feel they are at the receiving end ...(full article)

The global climate is crucial. People believe radical Islam to be at the centre of the many of the most violent conflicts around the world. They feel they are at the receiving end ...(full article)

The Philippines. Sri Lanka. Burma. Each, rightly or wrongly, was a darling of the development community in 1960. Each tanked, but each may soon be appearing on what Jim O’Nei...(full article)

The Philippines. Sri Lanka. Burma. Each, rightly or wrongly, was a darling of the development community in 1960. Each tanked, but each may soon be appearing on what Jim O’Nei...(full article)

Isn't Buddhism a religion that places respect for life and the embrace of peace at the very center of its worldview? The Buddha himself placed compassion at the root of his teachin...(full article)

Most Recent Articles

When Will Suu Kyi Defend Minorities? - Gwynne Dyer, Japan Times

Last month, as the anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar spread from Rakhine state in the western part of the country to the central city of Meiktila, Aung San Suu Kyi sat among the gene...

Myanmar's Monks Gone Bad - Swe Win, Latitude

Five years ago, when Myanmar was still under military rule, some Western and Chinese friends asked me how there could be such oppression in a country where Buddhism, which preach...

Punk Rock's 'Burma Wave' - Jonathan DeHart, Asia Life

Nowhere is punk more vital today than Burma. A number of recent reports have documented the “Burma Wave” and the fascinating process of Burma’s punk community coming out fr...

Don't Count Aung San Suu Kyi Out Yet - Rena Pederson, Huffington Post

The last couple of weeks have been extremely rough ones for Aung San Suu Kyi and her country, but the former Nobel Peace Prize winner is still the chess player to watch in Burma....

The Politics of Corruption in Myanmar - Larry Jagan, Asia Times

Signs of corruption are mounting in Myanmar, a crisis of confidence that threatens to derail President Thein Sein's ambitious reform program. Whether Thein Sein is willing to pus...

China Flaunts Cross-Border Clout in Drug Lord Hunt - Perlez & Feng, NYT

China's search for Mr. Naw Kham, overseen by its powerful Ministry of Public Security, was a hard-nosed display of the government’s political and economic clout across Laos, Myan...

The Shine Comes Off of New Burma - The Australian

The outbreak of ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar is taking much of the shine off the country's progress towards democratic reform and demands urgent action by the country's...

Why Has Burma's Aung Suu Kyi Gone Silent? - Peter Popham, Daily Beast

There can be few things tougher than sitting out year after year of detention, with no idea of when it will end. But Suu Kyi has discovered that real politics is an altogether mo...

Burma's Spring Turns Deadly - Peter Popham, The Daily Beast

In a scene resembling the apocalypse, smoke and flames rise above the shattered ruins of houses and a mosque. Refugees, children among them, scatter in panic, carrying whatever the...

Burma Becomes China-U.S. Chessboard - Bertil Lintner, Yale Global

More than one battle is underway in Burma, with policy contortions little understood by the outside world. There's the government's ongoing struggle with an abundance of ethnic res...

Burma's Glass Half Full - Doug Bandow, The National Interest

For years Burma competed for the world title of worst government. North Korea usually took home the crown, but Burma’s leaders in the capital city of Naypyidaw never gave up tryi...

China Transforms Waters in India's Backyard - C. Mohan, Indian Express

The Bay of Bengal, India thinks, is its backwaters. It should think again; for Beijing is all set to transform the geo-economics of the Bay of Bengal. The China National Petroleum ...

Time to Get Tough on Burma - Eric Randolph, Foreign Affairs

In its rush to fete Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, and capitalize on the country's tentative opening, the international community has turned a blind eye toward the ongoing repres...

A War of Many Interests in Myanmar - Aung Tun, Asia Times

Continued fighting between the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) and government troops is an important test of whether a political transition underway in Myanmar will eventually lead t...

Is Burma Sacrificing Rights to Development? - Nic Dunlop, The Diplomat

Last November, President Obama visited Burma, meeting reformist President Thein Sein and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But as the pace of change in the Southeast Asian c...

Burma's Rulers Are Fooling the World - Gulf News

Hasty praise, international oversell and overreaction to the so-called efforts by the junta to create an aura of stability in Myanmar, is actually blurring the bigger picture that ...

Will the Burmese Spring Collapse? - Christian Lewis, National Review

Burmese president Thein Sein's government deserves credit for the country’s ambitious political and economic liberalization program, but there is still a non-negligible risk ...

Burma's Insurance Against a Free Press - Rob Cuthbert, Yale Journal

When the West advocates on behalf of Burmese journalists, it focuses on what the Burmese can and cannot say. But, if the West truly wants to engage in effective advocacy for Burmes...

Burma Flexes Muscles Against Chinese Business - Lucy Ash, BBC News

Burma's steps towards democracy have made it possible for people to protest publicly, for the first time in decades, against things they don't like - and Chinese businesses have tu...

A British Comeback in Asia? - Rory Medcalf, The Diplomat

If you believe the rhetoric, Britain is coming back as a security player in Asia. It may not be exactly a reversal of the 1971 East (from London’s perspective) of Suez withd...

Japan Turns to Southeast Asia - Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun

The Japanese are increasingly viewing Southeast Asia as an attractive site for major manufacturing facilities. Production costs are increasingly competitive with China's, where Jap...

Japan's Reset with Myanmar - Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Japan Times

Japan has embarked on adjusting its foreign policy following the electoral victory of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which brought Shinzo Abe back to the premiership for the s...

In Myanmar, a Winning Hand for America - Nehginpao Kipgen, The Hindu

While Washington’s engagement with Burma is a demonstration of the triumph of diplomacy over isolation, the future depends on Yangon’s commitment to democratic processes...

World's Top Priority for 2013 - Kurt Shillinger, Christian Science Monitor

The world faces many challenges but none more important than securing democracy in Egypt and elsewhere....

Ten Conflicts to Watch in 2013 - Louise Arbour, Foreign Policy

  Every year, around the world, old conflicts worsen, new ones emerge and, occasionally, some situations improve. There is no shortage of storm clouds looming over 2013: Once ...

Asians Who Made a Difference in 2012 - Todd Crowell, RealClearWorld

If there were an award for Person of the Year in Asia, it would undoubtedly go to President Thein Sien of Myanmar. Thought at first he seemed to be just another general in a line ...

About Burma

Burma