Thinking about the MGI survey of global connectivity, there are a couple of dimensions to Myanmar’s reengagement with international society that fall outside a strict focus on the world economy – or are only tangentially related to it. Yet each is a key driver of the country’s reintegration process, and needs to be captured alongside, say, trade and financial flows.

One is the role now being played by INGOs inside the country. As with most developing nations, that role is substantial and is likely to rank alongside corporate activity as a determinant of contacts with the wider world. Across the global South, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tracks this type of intervention, and generates a wealth of national and international data. An MGI-type study drawing on this database to show where Myanmar stands in relation to countries with a much deeper experience of the aid business would be a useful supplement to its study of connectivity in the world economy.

The other is the mapping of national to global values in the Myanmar case. This is a critical contextual issue for all forms of international engagement, and areas of dissonance are already plainly visible in places like Rakhine State. Across every continent, the World Values Survey seeks to capture data of this kind, though it has not yet extended its reach into Myanmar. Again, an MGI-type study built on a database that included Myanmar and was able to show the degree to which it subscribes to or departs from wider global norms would be a helpful complement to an analysis of economic connectivity.

Ultimately, of course, everything is related, and Myanmar’s re-entry into international society is being shaped by a wealth of factors straddling many spheres. However, at a time when INGOs are very present on the ground, and local and world value systems are sometimes dissonant, it would be helpful to have detailed studies of these aspects of the country’s global links.