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Why Burma’s Opposition Is Playing with Fire
Burmese government ministers and their proxies are building up their frequent flyer miles. They’ve been making trips to their Southeast Asian neighbors as well as Western countries ranging from Norway...
View ArticleThe Exiles Return
In 2009, Moe Thee Zun, a famous student leader during Burma’s 1988 pro-democracy movement and a former chairman of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, flung his shoe at a car carrying then-prime...
View ArticleSuu Kyi’s US Visit More than Merely Symbolic
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader and Nobel laureate, is coming to Washington, D.C. On September 19 she is set to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. This is the highest civilian honor...
View ArticleWhat Aung San Suu Kyi Didn’t Say
Aung San Suu Kyi has completed her US tour, returning to Rangoon on Thursday night. Last week I had the privilege of flying to the Washington to see her during her stop there. It was a great honor to...
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He Was A Hero—And My Friend
Thet Win Aung (1971—2006) My former colleagues in Burma are preparing a special commemorative ceremony to be held next week to honor a fallen hero, Thet Win Aung. They’ve asked me to write an essay...
View ArticleThein Sein and his Estranged USDP
Burma’s pseudo-civilian president, Thein Sein, held his first press conference for local media last week, after he was re-elected last week as the chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party...
View ArticlePresident Obama is Coming to Burma
I don’t think there are any reliable opinion polls, but judging by anecdotal evidence, most Burmese are pretty happy to hear that President Obama has been re-elected. I spoke with a number of people...
View ArticleHomecoming
When I left Burma 16 years ago, the last place where I stayed was the Rangoon home of my friend Thet Win Aung. We got up at three in the morning and said goodbye to his parents as monsoon rain poured...
View ArticleFinally, a Window for Peace in Burma
Civil war has plagued Burma for over 60 years now. At a number of times throughout that period, the ethnic rebel groups fighting for autonomy from the central government attempted to join forces. But...
View ArticleNational Security Is No Excuse for Bad Behavior
Last month, the local Burmese authorities in Arakan State banned Rohingya Muslims from having more than two children and one wife. Officials in the western state, where hundreds of thousands of people...
View ArticleA State of Anxiety in Burma
I visited Burma for the first time in 16 years last December. Back then I felt relative optimism about our country’s political transition — despite its deepening poverty, the ongoing war against the...
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The Living History: Dagon Taya & Modern Burmese Literature
Dagon Taya (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Well-known Burmese writer and poet Dagon Taya passed away at his home in the town of Aungban, Shan State, on Monday at 1 pm. He was 95 years old. Here is a story about...
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Paying the Debt: 25 Years Later, Burma’s Struggle for Freedom Isn’t Over
Twenty-five years have now passed since Burma started its struggle for democracy. It began as the “8-8-88 Movement,” a nationwide popular uprising calling for the removal of military dictatorship and...
View ArticleWhy Peace Is Still a Tough Sell
Burma has witnessed the breaking of many political taboos over the past two years. Perhaps the most significant example is the use of the word “federalism” by the powers-that-be. During his recent...
View ArticleWhy It Makes Sense to Engage With Burma’s Military
On Sept. 18, Burma marked the 25th anniversary of the most important military coup in its recent history. When state-owned radio announced that the military had taken over at 4 pm on Sept. 18, 1988, I...
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What Burma Should Learn From Nelson Mandela
Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela responds to the crowd at an anti-apartheid concert on Oct. 28, 1990. (Photo: Reuters) Madiba passed away on Thursday night. Though it was expected for some time,...
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A New Generation Takes to the Streets in Burma
Student demonstrators in downtown Rangoon on Wednesday. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) The fighting peacock rides again. That long-standing symbol of the Burmese student movement, an emblem of...
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Burma Takes a Big Step Backwards
Police forces in Letpadan on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) Earlier this week, the Burmese authorities staged a violent crackdown on unarmed student protesters and their...
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One Year of the Kachin War
As of today, the war in Burma’s Kachin State has been going on for one year. It’s a sad anniversary. In early January 2012, the Kachin journalist Lahpai Naw Ming was hit by a bullet fired by a Burmese...
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