Renaud Egreteau
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190620967
- eISBN:
- 9780190686468
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190620967.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This book examines the political landscape that followed the 2010 elections in Myanmar and the subsequent transition from direct military rule to a semi-civilian, ‘hybrid’ regime. Striking political, ...
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This book examines the political landscape that followed the 2010 elections in Myanmar and the subsequent transition from direct military rule to a semi-civilian, ‘hybrid’ regime. Striking political, social, and economic transformations have indeed taken place in the long-isolated country since the military junta disbanded in March 2011. To better construe – and question – what has routinely been labelled a ‘Burmese Spring’, the book examines the reasons behind the ongoing political transition, as well as the role of the Burmese armed forces in the process. The book draws on in-depth interviews with Burmese political actors, party leaders, parliamentarians, active and retired army officers. It also takes its cue from comparative scholarship on civil-military relations and post-authoritarian politics, looking at the ‘praetorian’ logic to explain the transitional moment. Myanmar’s road to democratic change is, however, paved with obstacles. As the book suggests, the continuing military intervention in domestic politics, the resilience of bureaucratic, economic and political clientelism at all levels of society, the towering presence of Aung San Suu Kyi, the shadowy influence of regional and global powers, and the enduring concerns about interethnic and interreligious relations, all are strong reminders of the series of elemental conundrums which Myanmar will have to deal with in order to achieve democratization, sustainable development and peace.Less
This book examines the political landscape that followed the 2010 elections in Myanmar and the subsequent transition from direct military rule to a semi-civilian, ‘hybrid’ regime. Striking political, social, and economic transformations have indeed taken place in the long-isolated country since the military junta disbanded in March 2011. To better construe – and question – what has routinely been labelled a ‘Burmese Spring’, the book examines the reasons behind the ongoing political transition, as well as the role of the Burmese armed forces in the process. The book draws on in-depth interviews with Burmese political actors, party leaders, parliamentarians, active and retired army officers. It also takes its cue from comparative scholarship on civil-military relations and post-authoritarian politics, looking at the ‘praetorian’ logic to explain the transitional moment. Myanmar’s road to democratic change is, however, paved with obstacles. As the book suggests, the continuing military intervention in domestic politics, the resilience of bureaucratic, economic and political clientelism at all levels of society, the towering presence of Aung San Suu Kyi, the shadowy influence of regional and global powers, and the enduring concerns about interethnic and interreligious relations, all are strong reminders of the series of elemental conundrums which Myanmar will have to deal with in order to achieve democratization, sustainable development and peace.
Amitav Acharya
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199461141
- eISBN:
- 9780199088904
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199461141.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Asian Politics
East of India, South of China is an incisive analysis of the ebbs and flows of the geopolitical fortunes of India and China—the two Asian giants—in Southeast Asia. Amitav Acharya charts the key ...
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East of India, South of China is an incisive analysis of the ebbs and flows of the geopolitical fortunes of India and China—the two Asian giants—in Southeast Asia. Amitav Acharya charts the key events and turning points in the triangular relationship between India, China, and Southeast Asia since the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, and unravels its importance in the construction of the Asian and global strategic order. The book shows how India’s pre-eminent role in designing the regional architecture in Asia was diluted after the Bandung era, especially post the Sino-India War in 1962, and how, by the 1980s, it had become a political and diplomatic non-entity—if not a pariah—in Southeast Asia even as China emerged as a dominant regional power over the next three decades. The last two decades, however, have seen India making substantial inroads into the ASEAN scene with its ‘Look East’ policies, altering power equations in the region to no small degree. Revisiting the question of contemporary Asian order and posing critical questions about the future of regional leadership in Asia, Acharya challenges the conventional wisdom that imagined the Asian order solely premised upon US–Japan–China relations and gave little attention to India–China–Southeast Asia relations.Less
East of India, South of China is an incisive analysis of the ebbs and flows of the geopolitical fortunes of India and China—the two Asian giants—in Southeast Asia. Amitav Acharya charts the key events and turning points in the triangular relationship between India, China, and Southeast Asia since the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, and unravels its importance in the construction of the Asian and global strategic order. The book shows how India’s pre-eminent role in designing the regional architecture in Asia was diluted after the Bandung era, especially post the Sino-India War in 1962, and how, by the 1980s, it had become a political and diplomatic non-entity—if not a pariah—in Southeast Asia even as China emerged as a dominant regional power over the next three decades. The last two decades, however, have seen India making substantial inroads into the ASEAN scene with its ‘Look East’ policies, altering power equations in the region to no small degree. Revisiting the question of contemporary Asian order and posing critical questions about the future of regional leadership in Asia, Acharya challenges the conventional wisdom that imagined the Asian order solely premised upon US–Japan–China relations and gave little attention to India–China–Southeast Asia relations.
David Brewster (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199479337
- eISBN:
- 9780199092086
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199479337.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
China and India are emerging as major maritime powers as part of long-term shifts in the regional balance of power. As their wealth, interests, and power grow, the two countries are increasingly ...
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China and India are emerging as major maritime powers as part of long-term shifts in the regional balance of power. As their wealth, interests, and power grow, the two countries are increasingly bumping up against each other across the Indo-Pacific. China’s growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean is seen by many as challenging India’s aspirations towards regional leadership and major power status. How India and China get along in this shared maritime space—cooperation, coexistence, competition, or confrontation—will be one of the key strategic challenges for the entire region. India and China at Sea is an essential resource in understanding how the two countries will interact as major maritime powers in the coming decades. The essays in the volume, by noted strategic analysts from across the world, seek to better understand Indian and Chinese perspectives about their roles in the Indian Ocean and their evolving naval strategies towards each other.Less
China and India are emerging as major maritime powers as part of long-term shifts in the regional balance of power. As their wealth, interests, and power grow, the two countries are increasingly bumping up against each other across the Indo-Pacific. China’s growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean is seen by many as challenging India’s aspirations towards regional leadership and major power status. How India and China get along in this shared maritime space—cooperation, coexistence, competition, or confrontation—will be one of the key strategic challenges for the entire region. India and China at Sea is an essential resource in understanding how the two countries will interact as major maritime powers in the coming decades. The essays in the volume, by noted strategic analysts from across the world, seek to better understand Indian and Chinese perspectives about their roles in the Indian Ocean and their evolving naval strategies towards each other.
Madurika Rasaratnam
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190498320
- eISBN:
- 9780190638580
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190498320.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
Why are relations between politically mobilized ethnic identities and the nation-state sometimes peaceful and at other times fraught and violent? This book sets out a novel answer to this key puzzle ...
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Why are relations between politically mobilized ethnic identities and the nation-state sometimes peaceful and at other times fraught and violent? This book sets out a novel answer to this key puzzle in world politics through a detailed comparative study of the starkly divergent trajectories of the “Tamil question” in India and Sri Lanka from the colonial era to the present day. Whilst Tamil and national identities have peaceably harmonized in India, in Sri Lanka these have come into escalating and violent contradiction, leading to three decades of armed conflict and simmering antagonism since the civil war’s brutal end in 2009. The book links these differing outcomes that emerged from similar starting conditions and comparable historical conditions to distinct and contingent patters of political contestation and mobilization in the two states. Indian patterns of political mobilization and contestation produced a nation-state inclusive of the Tamils, whilst in Sri Lanka a different pattern of politics produced a hierarchical Sinhala Buddhist nation state hostile to Tamils and their claims. The analyses situate these dynamics within changing international contexts and set out how these once largely separate patterns of national-Tamil politics, and Tamil diaspora mobilization, are increasingly interwoven in the post-war internationalization of Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis. The processes of national identity are therefore central to the analysis of ethnic conflict and have implications for its management.Less
Why are relations between politically mobilized ethnic identities and the nation-state sometimes peaceful and at other times fraught and violent? This book sets out a novel answer to this key puzzle in world politics through a detailed comparative study of the starkly divergent trajectories of the “Tamil question” in India and Sri Lanka from the colonial era to the present day. Whilst Tamil and national identities have peaceably harmonized in India, in Sri Lanka these have come into escalating and violent contradiction, leading to three decades of armed conflict and simmering antagonism since the civil war’s brutal end in 2009. The book links these differing outcomes that emerged from similar starting conditions and comparable historical conditions to distinct and contingent patters of political contestation and mobilization in the two states. Indian patterns of political mobilization and contestation produced a nation-state inclusive of the Tamils, whilst in Sri Lanka a different pattern of politics produced a hierarchical Sinhala Buddhist nation state hostile to Tamils and their claims. The analyses situate these dynamics within changing international contexts and set out how these once largely separate patterns of national-Tamil politics, and Tamil diaspora mobilization, are increasingly interwoven in the post-war internationalization of Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis. The processes of national identity are therefore central to the analysis of ethnic conflict and have implications for its management.
Magnus Marsden
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190247980
- eISBN:
- 9780190492205
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247980.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
Trading Worlds is an anthropological study of Afghan merchants in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The book argues that the merchants collectively form a little understood yet rapidly ...
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Trading Worlds is an anthropological study of Afghan merchants in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The book argues that the merchants collectively form a little understood yet rapidly expanding global trading network. It contests one-sided images that depict traders from this and other conflict regions as immoral profiteers, the cronies of warlords or international drug smugglers. It shows, rather, the active role these merchants are playing in processes referred to by anthropologists as “globalisation from below”. Afghan merchants, the author demonstrates, forge and occupy critical economic niches, both at home and abroad: from the Persian Gulf to Central Asia, to the ports of the Black Sea; and in global cities such as Istanbul, Moscow and London, the traders’ activities are shaping the material and cultural lives of the diverse populations among whom they live. Through an exploration of the life histories, trading activities and everyday experiences of these mobile merchants, the book shows that traders’ worlds are informed by complex forms of knowledge, skill, ethical sensibility, and long-lasting human relationships that often cut across and dissolve boundaries of nation, ethnicity, religion and ideology.Less
Trading Worlds is an anthropological study of Afghan merchants in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The book argues that the merchants collectively form a little understood yet rapidly expanding global trading network. It contests one-sided images that depict traders from this and other conflict regions as immoral profiteers, the cronies of warlords or international drug smugglers. It shows, rather, the active role these merchants are playing in processes referred to by anthropologists as “globalisation from below”. Afghan merchants, the author demonstrates, forge and occupy critical economic niches, both at home and abroad: from the Persian Gulf to Central Asia, to the ports of the Black Sea; and in global cities such as Istanbul, Moscow and London, the traders’ activities are shaping the material and cultural lives of the diverse populations among whom they live. Through an exploration of the life histories, trading activities and everyday experiences of these mobile merchants, the book shows that traders’ worlds are informed by complex forms of knowledge, skill, ethical sensibility, and long-lasting human relationships that often cut across and dissolve boundaries of nation, ethnicity, religion and ideology.
