The political-security imperative and foreign policy goals

Abstract

Against the background of its problematic human-rights record and the military regime's continued extra-constitutional rule, Myanmar has faced mounting diplomatic pressure from the international community since the renewed detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in May 2003. This Adelphi Paper examines Myanmar's foreign policy, which is predicated on state-building and development, as well as defending the regime's decision to give priority to establishing an enduring constitution over immediate national reconciliation and democratisation. It discusses how the regime has been able to take advantage of the economic, security and geostrategic interests of both China and India in the country to achieve developmental and security goals, and how its relations with Beijing in particular have assumed ever greater significance as Western capitals have sought to place Myanmar under the scrutiny of the UN Security Council on the grounds that its domestic circumstances have regional security implications. It discusses the regime's objectives, concerns and challenges in its relations with the US, Japan and Europe; details the difficult decisions of the leadership as ASEAN has started to relax its application of the non-interference norm when dealing with Myanmar; and examines its interaction with the UN, particularly the secretary-general and his special envoys. The paper concludes by analysing the likely regional and international implications of intensified political pressure on the military regime.

Notes

¹ Mary P. Callahan, Making Enemies: War and State Building in Burma(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003).

² The SPDC is, in effect, the reconstituted SLORC, although only the chairman, vice-chairman and the two SLORC secretaries survived the change to the ruling echelon of the military regime in 1997.

³ As of February 2005, the SPDC had 12 members comprising the chairman and commander-in-chief of defence services; the vice-chairman and deputy com-mander-in-chief of defence services;secre-tary-1 (ranked fifth); and nine members, including the joint chief of staff of the army, navy and air force (ranked third); the prime minister (ranked fourth); the quartermaster general; the chief of armed forces training; the chief of military ordnance; and the chiefs of the bureaux of specialoperations:http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=454&z=14.

⁴ For the official version of the background to Khin Nyunt's dismissal, see Explanations given by Member of SPDC General Thura Shwe Mann and Prime Minister Lt. General Soe Win, 24 October 2004 and Explanation by Secretary-1, Lt. General Thein Seinon October 22, 2004. An alternative explanation can be found in Kyaw Yin Hlaing, ‘Myanmar in 2004: Why Military Rule Continues’, in Singh and Wah, eds, Southeast Asian Affairs 2005 (Singapore: ISEAS, 2005), pp. 232–8.

⁵ John H. Badgley, ‘Strategic Interests in Myanmar’, in Badgley, ed., ‘Reconciling Burma/Myanmar: Essays on U.S. Relations with Burma’, NBR Analysis, vol. 15, no. 1, March 2004, p. 14.

⁶ Tin Maung Maung Than, ‘Myanmar: Military in Charge’, in John Funston, ed., Government and Politics in Southeast Asia (Singapore: ISEAS, 2001), p. 218.

⁷ Andrew Selth, Burma's Armed Forces: Power Without Glory(Norwalk, CT: EastBridge, 2002), p. 113. A similar view is taken in International Crisis Group (ICG), Myanmar: The Military Regime's View of the World, ICG Asia Report, no. 28, 7 December 2001, p. 8: http://www.crisis-group.org/home/index.cfm?id=1531&l=1.

⁸ In Myanmar, the politics of survival are associated with the practice of the guiding principles of the three ma: ma loke(not doing any work), ma-shote(not getting involved in any complication) and ma-pyoke(not getting dismissed). See Kyaw Yin Hlaing, ‘Reconsidering the failure of the Burma Socialist Programme Party government to eradicate internal economic impediments’, South East Asia Research, vol. 11, no. 1, March 2003, p. 35.

⁹ The five principles are: (i) mutual respect of each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty; (ii) mutual non-aggression; (iii) mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs; (iv) equality and mutual benefit; and (v) peaceful coexistence.

¹⁰ See ‘Independent and Active Foreign Policy’, Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.mofa.gov.mm/for-eignpolicy/foreignpolicyview2.html; Khin Maung Win, ‘Foreign Policy of Myanmar: A Brief Overview’, in Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Towards Democracy by Home Grown Process(Yangon: Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2004), pp. 257– 8; Thaung Tun, ‘Priorities in Myanmar Foreign Policy’, 10 August 2004: http:// www.asiantribune.com/show_article. php?id=1688; William C. Johnstone, Burma's Foreign Policy: a Study in Neutralism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963); Chi-shad Liang, Burma's Foreign Relations: Neutralism in Theory and Practice(Boulder, CO: Praeger, 1990), pp. 62–3. For Burma's foreign policy before Ne Win's 1962 takeover, see Johnstone, Burma's Foreign Policy.

¹¹ Aung-Thwin, ‘1948 and Burma's Myth of Independence’, in Josef Silverstein, ed., Independent Burma at Forty Years: Six Assessments(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1989), pp. 19–34.

¹² Aung-Thwin, ‘1948 and Burma's Myth of Independence’, p. 25.

¹³ For the themes addressed in this paragraph, see Martin Smith, Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity (London: Zed Books, 2006[updated edn]); Bertil Lintner, Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency since 1948(Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1999); Robert H. Taylor, The State in Burma(London: C.Hurst, 1987); Callahan, Making Enemies; Ashley South, Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma: The Golden Sheldrake(London: Routledge, 2003). Also see Chao Tzang Yawnghe, ‘Burma: The Depoliticization of the Political’, in Muthiah Alagappa, ed., Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: the Quest for Moral Authority (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995), pp. 170–92, and his earlier ‘The Burman Military: Holding the country together?’ in Silverstein, ed., Independent Burma at Forty Years, pp. 81–101.

¹⁴ Taylor, ‘Burma: Political Leadership, Security Perceptions and Policies’ in Mohammed Ayoob and Chai-Anan Samudavanija, eds, Leadership Perceptions and National Security: The Southeast Asian Experience (Singapore: ISEAS, 1989), pp. 205–223.

¹⁵ Badgley, ‘The Foreign Policy of Burma’ in David Wurfel and Bruce Burton, eds, The Political Economy of Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1990), pp. 204–18.

¹⁶ For an overview, see ICG, Myanmar Backgrounder: Ethnic Minority Politics, ICG Asia Report, no. 52, 7 May 2003, pp. 28–9: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1528&l=1.

¹⁷ The four political objectives are: (1) stability of the state, community peace and tranquillity, prevalence of law and order; (2) national reconsolidation; (3) emergence of a new enduring State Constitution; (4) building of a new modern developed nation in accord with the new State Constitution. The four economic objectives are: (1) development of agriculture as the base and all round development of other sectors of the economy; (2) proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system; (3) development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical know-how and investments from sources inside the country and abroad; and (4) the initiative to shape the national economy must be kept in the hands of the state and the national peoples. The four social objectives are: (1) the uplift of the morale and morality of the entire nation; (2) the uplift of national prestige and integrity, and the preservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage and national character; (3) the uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit; and (4) the uplift of health, fitness and education standards of the entire nation.

¹⁸ Tin Maung Maung Than, ‘Myanmar: Preoccupation with Regime Survival, National Unity and Stability’ in Muthiah Alagappa, ed., Asian Security Practice: Material and Ideational Influences (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998), p. 394.

¹⁹ See Smith, ‘Ethnic Politics and Regional Development in Myanmar: The Need for New Approaches’, in Kyaw Yin Hlaing, Taylor, Tin Maung Maung Than, eds, Myanmar: Beyond Politics to Societal Imperatives (Singapore: ISEAS, 2005), pp. 70–71.

²⁰ For an overview see ICG, Myanmar Backgrounder: Ethnic Minority Politics.

²¹ Soe Mya Kyaw, ‘Executive Structure and Essence of the Future State’, New Light of Myanmar, 30 January 2006, pp. 8–9.

²² Maung Cedana, ‘Wearing the same old nether garment’, New Light of Myanmar, 7 April 2006, pp. 8–9.

²³ Callahan, ‘Democracy in Burma: The Lessons of History’, NBR Analysis, vol. 9, no. 3, May 1998, p. 18.

²⁴ Ibid., p. 17. For relevant studies and insights, see Christina Fink, Living in Silence: Burma under Military Rule (London: Zed Books, 2001); Monique Skidmore, Karaoke Fascism: Burma and the Politics of Fear (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvannia Press, 2004); Hazel Lang, Fear and Sanctuary: Burmese Refugees in Thailand (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications, 2002).

²⁵ J.S. Furnivall, Colonial Policy and Practice: a Comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1948); Thant Myint-U, The Making of Modern Burma (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

²⁶ On nationalism in Myanmar see Mikael Gravers, ‘Nationalism as Political Paranoia in Burma: An Essay on the Historical Practice of Power’, NIAS Reports, no. 11 (Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 1993).

²⁷ ICG, Myanmar: the Military Regime's View of the World, p. 5.

²⁸ Major General Moe Hein, National Defence College, Yangon, ‘Security Challenges of the 21st Century: A Regional/National Perspective’, Paper presented to the 8^th ARF Heads of Defence Colleges Meeting, Singapore, September 2004: http://www.mindef.gov.sg/8arfmeet/presentations/myanmar_presentation.pdf.

²⁹ See Maung Aung Myoe, Military Doctrine and Strategy in Myanmar: A Historical Perspective, Working Paper no. 339 (Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1999), pp. 7–13; Smith, Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity.

³⁰ See, however, Samuel Blythe, ‘Myanmar's junta fears US invasion’, Asia Times, 28 April 2006: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HD28Ae03.html.

³¹ Myanmar's military has been quietly upgrading its military capability. Selth, Burma's Secret Military Partners, Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence, no. 136 (Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 2000).

³² See Maung Maung Myoe, Military Doctrine and Strategy in Myanmar, p. 22.

³³ Thaung Tun, ‘Priorities in Myanmar Foreign Policy’, 10 August 2004, p. 4.

³⁴ Tin Maung Maung Than, ‘Myanmar: Preoccupation with Regime Survival, National Unity and Stability’, p. 404.

³⁵ Major General Moe Hein, ‘Security Challenges of the 21st Century: A Regional/National Perspective’.

³⁶ For a review of Myanmar's political economy see Myat Thein, Economic Development of Myanmar (Singapore: ISEAS, 2004). Also see David I. Steinberg, ‘Myanmar: The Roots of Economic Malaise’ in Myanmar: Beyond Politics to Societal Imperatives, pp. 86–116.

³⁷ J.F. Guyot, ‘Burma in 1988: Perestroika with a military face’, Southeast Asian Affairs 1989 (Singapore: ISEAS, 1989), p. 113.

³⁸ See Helen James, ‘Myanmar's International Relations Strategy: The Search for Security’, Contemporary Southeast Asia, vol. 26, no. 3, December 2004, pp. 530–53.

³⁹ Stefan Collignon, ‘Human Rights and the Economy in Burma’ in Taylor, ed., Burma: Political Economy under Military Rule (London: C.Hurst, 2001), p. 83. Also see the discussion in Juliane Schober, ‘Buddhist Visions of Moral Authority and Modernity in Burma’, in Monique Skidmore, ed., Burma at the Turn of the 21st Century (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005), pp. 113–32; and Zarni and May Oo, Free Burma Coalition, Common Problems, Shared Responsibilities: Citizens' Quest for National Reconciliation in Burma/Myanmar, October 2004, pp. 66–70: http://www.freeburmacoalition.org/executive%20summary%20Free%20Burma%20Coalition%20report.pdf. For a different,but also common, view see Chao Tzang Yawnghe, ‘Burma: The Depoliticization of the Political’.

⁴⁰ The five unified eras comprise those of the great Burman monarchs Anawrahta, Bayinnaung and Alaungphaya. The fourth is Aung San and Panglong 1947 and the fifth is the present era. See Smith, Burma: Insurgency and Politics of Ethnicity, p. 426.

⁴¹ See for example Taylor, ‘The Outlook for Myanmar and its Role in the Region’, Paper given at the ISEAS 2005, Regional Outlook Forum, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, 6 January 2005: http://www.iseas.edu.sg/22005.pdf.

⁴² Mya Maung, ‘The Burma Road to the Past’, Asian Survey, vol. 39, no. 2, March/April 1999, p. 267. For an account of the role of Buddhist discourse in Myanmar's politics see Gustaaf Houtman, Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Culture of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 1999).

⁴³ GüSiemers, ‘Suu Kyi in Myanmar: Von Konfrontation zu Kollision?’, Südostasien aktuell, September 1998, pp. 384–402.

⁴⁴ See Embassy of the Union of Myanmar in Japan, http://www.myanmar-embassy-tokyo.net/about.html. — Different figures are available for some border lengths, see CIA, The World Factbook, ‘Burma’: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bm.html. On border lengths and Myanmar's geographical setting, see also Selth, Burma's Armed Forces, pp. 3–7.

⁴⁵ Selth, Burma's Armed Forces, pp. 13–15.

⁴⁶ J. Mohan Malik, ‘Burma's Role in Regional Security: Pawn or Pivot?’ in Robert I. Rotberg, ed., Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future (Washington DC: Brookings, 1998), pp. 109–34. On China–India relations more generally, see Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu and Jingdong Yuan, China and India: Cooperation or Conflict? (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003).

⁴⁷ Bruce Hawke, ‘How Much does Rangoon get from the Gas’, The Irrawaddy (Thailand), November 2004, vol. 12, no. 10, p. 11. The Yadana site has been producing since 1988, while Yetagun started production in 2000. Also see Tin Maung Maung Than, ‘Myanmar's Energy Sector: Banking on Natural Gas’ in Southeast Asian Affairs 2005, pp. 257–89.

⁴⁸ Bhutan and Nepal joined in 2004.

⁴⁹ See Thaung Tun, ‘Priorities in Myanmar Foreign Policy’, 10 August 2004.