Addressing Myanmar’s Citizenship Crisis

Among many problematic issues surfacing in reformist Myanmar is a citizenship crisis with four main dimensions. First, in a state with fragile civil liberties, skewed political rights and limited social rights, there is a broad curtailment of citizenship. Second, Rohingya Muslims living mainly in Rakhine State are denied citizenship, and other Muslims throughout the country are increasingly affected by this denial. Third, designated ethnic minorities clustered in peripheral areas face targeted restrictions of citizenship. Fourth, the dominant Bamar majority concentrated in the national heartland tends to arrogate or appropriate citizenship. The result is growing social tension that threatens to undermine the wider reform process. To examine this crisis, the article sets Myanmar in a comparative context. In particular, it considers how multicultural states in the developed world have sought to manage a political switch from racial or ethnic hierarchy to democratic citizenship. Drawing on global experience with multiculturalism and enabling civic integration, it advances a series of policy options focused on rights, duties and identity. It argues for domestic political leadership, backed by global political support, to address Myanmar’s citizenship crisis.     

Reforming government with information technology in South Korea

The South Korean government recently launched 11 major e‐government services after a long period of inter‐ and intra‐ministry politics concerning the allocation of jurisdiction over various e‐government services. This article analyses the politics of e‐government efforts in South Korea. It begins by describing the development of e‐government policy in South Korea for the past two decades, and identifies its four major features as comprehensiveness, fragmentation, the orientation toward operational efficiency and citizen services, and the inclination toward new technological solutions. The article concludes that these features can be attributed to the heavy involvement of the macro political system, its high susceptibility to inputs from experts, and the institutional design of the informatisation subsystem.     

缅甸大变革及其对中缅关系的影响

自2011年3月吴登盛领导的新政府执政以来,着力调整内外政策,迅速开启了“变革”之门。对内,统治缅甸40多年的军政府逐步向文官政府交权,工作重心开始转向经济改革。对外,积极融入东盟,同西方国家关系出现重大“突破”。对华,坚持睦邻友好,两国关系稳定发展。但缅甸的民主改革不会一蹴而就,还有不少问题有待解决,任何操之过急的期待或行为,恐将适得其反。     

缅甸独立后华侨经济的变化(1948—1962年)

缅甸独立后,华侨经济在经济实力、产业结构、资本属性方面发生了很大的变化。造成这种变化的主要原因是当局的政策、缅甸国内各种势力的互动以及华缅两族的历史关系等。     

Building Governance from Scratch: Myanmar and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative

ABSTRACT

The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative is a set of transnational rules that aims at improving governance in the oil, gas and mining sector. Several resource rich countries have joined the initiative since its inception in 2002. The question is why and with what effect? The article explores the case of Myanmar and argues that both state and non-state actors use the transnational regulations of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative framework for their own ends. While the government attempts to attract broader foreign investment and increased foreign aid, civil society tries to address the human rights situation in the country. While this ultimately leads to conflict and confrontation in a society shaken by a long period of authoritarianism and civil wars, there is potential for the Myanmar Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative to provide an opportunity to improve state–society relations and build inclusive governance structures with an improved human rights record. However, the challenges are massive given the weakness of the state, ongoing armed conflict in ethnic minority areas and low trust between political actors.     

Power,cultural nationalism,and postcolonial public architecture: building a parliament house in post-independence Myanmar

This article focuses on the contested, and frequently postponed, construction of a new parliament house in postcolonial Myanmar. Since the late colonial period, the country’s legislative bodies have convened in four different buildings, three located in the former capital Yangon and the latest one in Naypyitaw. Drawing on legislative proceedings and media reports, this study interrogates the relationship between decolonisation, national identity, state-building, and public architecture in post-independence Myanmar. It suggests that the commissioning and construction of a new legislative house has always served a dual objective: projecting state power and national pride in both Myanmar’s early postcolonial and later post-junta political contexts, whilst symbolising a sense of nationhood grounded on the representational ideals of the dominant and ruling ethnic Bamar elites.     

1988年以来缅甸对外经济关系的发展及其意义

1988年以来缅甸的对外经济关系有了长足的发展，并对缅甸经济以及内政外交产生了重要影响。本文从政治-经济及其互动的角度分析缅甸对外经济关系发展的成效和特点以及对缅甸所具有的意义。文章认为，缅甸的对外经济关系对缅甸军政府的维系至关重要，但由于受到西方国家制裁的严重制约，对缅甸国内经济的支持有限。     

缅甸和中国的非正式跨国界流动

西方国家对缅甸长达十余年的经济制裁严重阻碍了缅甸经济的发展。由于与发达国家的贸易异常艰难,缅甸贸易的中心转向邻国。本文分析了缅甸和中国非正式跨国界物资和人员流动的原因和影响,提出的对策建议包括:两国的管理部门之间要加强合作,将非正式流动顺利转变为正式流动。通过合作,重新认真审查和修订为非正式流动制定的限制性政策法规,降低非正式流动对当地社区的社会和经济造成的负面影响。文章提出只有利益相关各方长期合作共同制定多维政策,应对多维问题,才能实现双赢的局面。     

1988年以来日缅关系新发展初探

1988年缅甸军政府上台后,日本就对缅政策进行了适度调整,日缅特殊关系得以进一步巩固与强化,日缅特殊关系的发展延续是日缅两国维护各自利益的产物。虽然日本为确立在东南亚地区的主导地位、实现政治大国奠定基础,从而维系特殊的日缅关系,但其未来走向仍将受到其ODA政策变化、缅甸对外开放政策和贸易政策以及美国为首的西方国家的影响。     

政治身份认同与缅甸果敢同盟军的瓦解

生存达二十年之久的缅甸非政府武装组织果敢同盟军于2009年8月被缅甸中央政府解除武装而宣告瓦解。本文通过对果敢同盟军、佤邦联合军和掸邦东同盟军这三个背景相似的缅甸非政府武装组织的比较研究,提出导致果敢同盟军瓦解的内部深层次的支撑性原因是该组织政治身份认同的缺失的观点。通过这一案例,本文试图提出政治身份认同是非政府武装组织在主权国家内生存的必要条件这一一般性假说。