Crisis in South East Asia

Today, October 1st, marks the creation of my Blog. What, you may be asking, do I intend to use this blog for? Well, as a soapbox, a medium, a diversion... whatever I want, really. I will start today with my thoughts on Burma/Myanmar:



The situation worsens in Burma/Myanmar and, for all my loyal readers--as I write this I have none, hopefully at least the family will look in--I will take a moment to clear up some of the facts about the crisis.

The first is the name: how can we understand the country if even what to call it is confusing? The country became independent from the United Kingdom in the wake of WWII and was known by its historic name, Burma. But, in 1962, a military coup brought a "socialist state" led by Dictator/General Ne Win for 26 years. In 1988, in response to democratic protests, the military led a coup and replaced the "socialist" government with a military junta when it declared martial law in 1989. As part of their power struggle, the junta, under the auspices of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), renamed the country Myanmar and set up free elections. The National League for Democracy (led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi) won overwhelmingly. however, the SLORC annulled the results and detained Suu Kyi. At this point, Western governments refused to acknowledge the government of the country and continued to refer to it as Burma, while the junta, and its Asian neighbors, called the country Myanmar. So, yes, both Burma and Myanmar are correct, and no, neither is wrong. We are not making much headway in simplifying this conflict at all.

The most important fact to understand about Myanmar is that there are as many monks as soldiers in this Buddhist nation. The estimated number for the two is 400,000. This shows why the government cannot simply kill all the monks (don't think they wouldn't if they could) or simply tell the monks not to demonstrate. As much as the monks must please the government, in this intensely religious country, the government must also please the monks, or fear the rise of the 55 million people who live there.

What will happen to the most vile of the vile, the most secluded of the secluded? No one can say for sure. But, there is a hope, Suu Kyi, the symbol of resistance was allowed out of house arrest for an hour and half to meat with the UN envoy. Even China, one of Myanmar's biggest allies, has denounced the violent suppression of protests. So, I am left with two outcomes, a cynical one, and an original one:

Cynical: The military refuses to give up power, the protesters are killed, the UN is stopped from doing anything by China and Russia and the maleficent regime retains its grip on power.

Original: The power of people will overcome the power of bullets, religion will unite a terrified society, and democracy will take hold. I call this original because this sort of democratic revolution that does not end in dictatorship or blood has not happened in too long a time.

You must choose what sort of view you wish to hold, I cannot do that for you, but I will tell you that deep down, I believe in the latter, I hope in the latter.