Monthly Archives: April 2014
Listening to Myanmar’s foot soldiers
Written on April 16, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Earlier this month, CPCS released the latest in an important series of listening projects. Its title is Listening to Voices: Myanmar’s Foot Soldiers Speak. Looking inside the peace process, the report notes that fighters in frontline infantry units, the individuals Americans sometimes call grunts, are critical to lasting peace. It therefore sets out to capture…
The Act of Killing
Written on April 15, 2014 at 7:25 am, by Ian Holliday
On Sunday afternoon I attended a screening of The Act of Killing at City University of Hong Kong – the second time in a month that the Southeast Asia Research Centre had shown the movie and hosted a follow-up discussion forum. Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and anonymous collaborators, this two-hour documentary was released in 2012,…
1200 Miles
Written on April 14, 2014 at 7:05 am, by Ian Holliday
I only recently became aware of the work of Jack Picone, a documentary photographer active in many parts of the world including the Thai-Myanmar border. This post is simply a shout-out – I feel sure others will be interested to see some of the material Jack has put together. A superb multimedia sequence compiled three…
Discipline-flourishing democracy
Written on April 11, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
There was a clear reminder this week that Myanmar’s democracy is intended by its creators and overseers to be discipline-flourishing. Speaking in Pathein on Monday, Tin Aye, chair of the Union Election Commission, argued for continuation of the present system of military-appointed legislators, and announced that he will constrain future polls by allowing candidates only…
R2P in Asia
Written on April 10, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
This week’s twentieth anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide again focused attention on R2P. In ‘We the Peoples’: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century (also known as the Millennium Report), released in March 2000, then Secretary-General Kofi Annan posed a stark question: “if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable…
Establishment playbook
Written on April 9, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Thomas Fuller published a terrific article in last week’s New York Times summarizing the current state of Thai politics. After five months of Bangkok street protests against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government, the focus is now shifting to courts and agencies willing to hand down judgments favourable to the movement. Making those judgments are individuals…
Public opinion in Myanmar
Written on April 8, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
A survey of Myanmar public opinion published last week by the International Republican Institute provides an antidote to the disenchantment that shrouded Thein Sein’s recent third anniversary as president. From December 24, 2013 to February 1, 2014, IRI conducted 3000 in-person, in-home interviews with individuals randomly selected to reflect the demographic composition of the country….
Reviving military leadership – Su Mon Thazin Aung
Written on April 7, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
The early months of 2011 saw the dissolution of an established military junta in Myanmar, and the collapse of a long-standing autocratic regime in Egypt. Both countries introduced measures to liberalize and democratize their political systems. Three years on, however, these two cases display clear signs of a revival of military leadership. In Egypt, massive…
Protecting by presence
Written on April 4, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
The pattern of events in Rakhine State over just a few days at the end of last week and the beginning of this bears only one interpretation. Rakhine Buddhists are waging a systematic campaign against Rohingya Muslims, and by extension against institutions and individuals seeking to provide them with essential assistance. The clear aim is…
Reform dynamics
Written on April 3, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Looking beyond the contest of ideas exemplified by the current Crimea crisis, I was chatting a couple of days ago with Grzegorz Ekiert about another lesson Myanmar might draw from Ukraine. Grzegorz reminded me that this is a country that secured independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and set about undertaking a transition to…