tragedy before our eyes
the horror of Myanmar
We can argue about the philosophy of using government in our society but I actually think those types of discussions are a luxury. Others may disagree but we don’t confront an existential threat (unlike Ukraine or Taiwan), we have neighbours on both borders with whom we have relatively peaceful relations, we can improve upon many aspects of our government but we also have conditions, even in 2023, leading the world to respect us and millions, if not billions of people to wish they were Americans.
Our Constitution, that beautiful document we cite (even if we don’t read it often enough), says a lot about the federal government; its role is intrinsic in defining, enunciating, and limiting government’s role. It mentions states governments as well.
The Preamble to that federal Constitution states
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
‘Provide for the common defence’.
When one assumes a position in said government, whether a political appointment or civil servant, Marine, Sailor, Air Man, Coast Guardswoman, Guardian, or Soldier, the individual declares an oath to that precious document rather than any individual or political party.
We are far from perfect, as anyone reading this knows, but we do a better job than most countries at enforcing this because people overwhelmingly believe in these principles.
Few countries are currently as despicable in utilising their military to defend its stolen political power as that of Myanmar, originally Burma, rather than to provide for the common defence. Cursed both by its close relationship to a China desiring access to the Indian Ocean and by the variety of ethnic groups living in the mountainous, diverse land, Burma has had a governance issues for centuries, regardless of who is in power. These divisions provided an opening for Britain to colonise in the 1880s..
On India’s periphery (remember the British holdings on the subcontinent included today’s Bangladesh), Burma suffered Japanese invasion in the early 1940s. The sheer hell of moving military personnel through this jungled, dense, impenetrable terrain was the stuff of the best military memoir ever written, Lieutenant General William Slim’s Defeat Into Victory, and discussed in painful detail in Barbara Tuchman’s, Stilwell and the American Experience in China. In short, Myanmar is a country of dozens of languages, religions, ethnic groups, illegal activities, along with multiple regional intricacies. It also is a remarkable place where citizens also value of education with 90% literacy.
The Army was central to the establishment of a post-colonial state following Britain’s recognition, after defeating the Japanese in 1945, that the old ways could not persist for the Empire. Well-educated nationalists led the peaceful process resulting in independence on 4 January 1948. Sadly, the violence so pervasive in this nation today actually pre-dated independence itself as leading independence figure Aung San, father of the best known citizen of this country Aung San Suu Kyi, died by assassination in July 1947.
The military’s role was to assure stability and peace while maintaining the power over the various political factions including nationalists, communists, local business figures, and ethnic voices. The military gradually turned that responsibility into unbending control over the new regime.
Burma, as it was known until 1989, was neutral during the Cold War but the military never released its hold on the apparatus of government despite pledges to the contrary until well into the 21st century. Occasional feeble attempts at elections appeared but without eroding the armed forces grip. As protests arose periodically, particularly by the revered Buddhist monks, the military crushed them.
Aung San Suu Kyi returned from decades in exile in the 1980s, gradually assuming leadership over one of the largest anti-government parties. Praised for her long-avowed commitment to democratic principles, she was the leading figure of the brief democratic interlude between 2011 and 2021 after which the military yet again imprisoned her and retook the reigns of government. Her regime did not have a spotless human rights record, marked by Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing of millions of Rohinga refugees along the Bengali border. This looked eerily similar to the severely repressive Myanmar of the generals but she bore the criticism. The 2021 coup ended any hopes of her role in the ruling clique. The aging leader—she is 78 this year—is still under house arrest, though her 33 year sentence declined by six years this week when five of the charges against her disappeared.
The horrifying part of the Myanmar’s military behaviour is that they are carrying out ‘provide for the common defence’ as protecting themselves against the citizens they ought protect. The military began bombing the people of the country roughly 8 times monthly within eight weeks of seizing power on 1 February 2021. The original actions targeted resistance fighters. Later that year, evidence exists that the campaign moved more certainly to destroy civilian sites.
By the following year, monthly bombings increased more than three fold while this year the number of monthly bombings average 30. The attacks rely on drones to destroy civilian property while dramatically increasing fear among the population.
The armed forces are also burning the villages, temples, mosques, and other civilian sites across Myanmar to terrorise the population. The military, reversing their supposed willingness to hold elections, view the citizens of their nation as supporters or targets. Protestors understand the danger only too well and tend to pull back as a result. But brave people still fight where they can. Buddhist monks still terrify the regime as a beacon of independence.
China has long sought an Indian Ocean access through Myanmar’s location west of the Kra Peninsula leading south to the Strait of Malacca. One of its incentives to Naypidaw, the nation’s capital, is to offer planes and drones as well as other weapons. Beijing invariably claims no interest in the sovereign affairs of other states yet is clearly supporting the brutality of the authoritarian regime to reinforce bilateral ties. We have long known that Beijing is not moved by any state violating basic human rights of its people, modeling the behaviour as well as anyone can with its treatment of the Uighurs for the past 6 or 7 years. That Myanmar is a rich location for many natural resources as well as geographically helpful to China is further incentive to support continued repression.
Outside analysts also fear Russia’s role in perpetuating the violence though Moscow is obviously focused on events closer to home. It is certainly conceivable that Russian involvement would reinforce Putin’s desire to distract the United States and western Europe from events in Ukraine.
Human rights advocates, outside monitors and foreign scholars hear about these attacks online as the country is largely closed today to foreigners, seen by the regime as perpetuating problems internationally. Satellites provide ample evidence of the carnage as the armed forces leave little to chance in their efforts to stamp out the kind of pro-democracy movements that strained decades of military control in the late 1980s.
In short, conditions in Myanmar are hellish and unpredictable. The Biden administration condemns the actions of Naypidaw but this country of 55 million is not a top priority, even in Southeast Asia. It falls as collateral damage as well because Washington has few instruments to affect the Myanmar decision-making.
Myanmar is not a focus for much of the world, either. A few scholars such as Dr. Zach Abuza at the National War College tweet repeatedly to raise awareness of these horrendous actions. Anthony Davis of Jane’s is a constant voice on the implications and the specific behaviours but the National Unity Government, the somewhat organised resistance seeking to overturn the current regime, faces tremendous odds with few actual resources on the ground.
Myanmar appears condemned to finish its first century as a sovereign member of the world community as a brutal dictatorship. Yet its is always dangerous to engage in straightline analysis on anything. Some human variable could arise to improve or, tragically, worsen the situation. But international attention at this point is far from ousting the military in any way. Neighbours are simply looking the other way. So much for the ‘Liberal International Order’ under anyone as it can’t always be fixed, we see. Sovereignty overwhelms outside intervention in this case.
Additionally, we are foolish not to cherish what we have, even if we can make it better. FIN
Michael Hickey, ‘The British Campaign in Burma, 1941-45’, 17 February 2011, retrieved at https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/burma_campaign_01.shtml
William Slim, Defeat into Victory (London: MacKay, 1961)
Barbara Tuchman, Stillwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945 (New York: MacMillan, 1971)
Sui-Lee Wee, ‘Aung San Suu Kyi’s Prison Sentence Reduced in Myanmar’, New York Times, 1 August 2023, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/world/asia/aung-san-suu-kyi-pardon-myanmar.html
Haley Willis and Weiyi Cai, ‘The Country That bombs Its Own People’, New York Times, 31 July 2023, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/31/world/asia/myanmar-military.html