The problem of ethnic insurgencies and its impact on state building in Myanmar

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: South Asia, grade: 2,0, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies Nanyang Technological University (Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore), course: Government and Politics of Southeast Asia, language: English, abstract: Since more than 40 years, Myanmar is ruled by a military junta, calling itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). It is today the last military regime of its kind in Southeast Asia. Due to disastrous economic policies initiated by the government, Myanmar belongs to the world's Least Developed Countries (LCD's), the majority of its population living below poverty line. Despite multiparty elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power. Therefore, the military regime lacks the legitimacy to rule, but nevertheless they do so by using force to suppress oppositional movements. Myanmar is one of the ethnically most diverse countries in the world, consisting of more than 100 different ethnic groups with their own history. Since its independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar has experienced numerous conflicts between the central government and ethnic minority groups seeking autonomy. In this research paper, the reasons for the ethnic insurgency movements will be analyzed, as well as how the military regime has dealt with this conflicts. At the end, the state building process in Myanmar will be examined with the help of the 'State in Society' approach by Joel Migdal.