Burma: The Curse of Independence - Hardcover

Tucker, Shelby

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745315461 ISBN 13: 9780745315461

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2001

Synopsis

'Tucker is endlessly fascinating and well-informed on this little known region of Asia where the end of A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh elides surreally into Paul Theroux's Mosquito Coast.' Times Literary Supplement

'Written with fluency and verve, the book has to be regarded as a standard work and is indispensable for understanding the travails of modern Burma.' John McEnery, author of Epilogue in Burma

Burma offers the first up-to-date overview and understanding of Burma’s tragic armed conflict in the twentieth century. Examining the ‘causes’ of the war, Shelby Tucker traces the political development of the country from the occupations by the British and Japanese and eventual independence in 1942, through the army coup of 1962 led by Ne Win, which established an authoritarian state, to the pro-democracy movement of the late 1980s.

Tucker examines Burma’s drug trade; scrutinises Burma’s civil rights record; examines the role of the Nationalist leader Aung Seng, who attempted to unite the various sections of the population; the impact of Seng’s assassination and subsequent power struggles; and considers the future for a government faced with armed opposition from separatist movements among the ethnic minorities of Burma’s regions.

About this title

Review:

"[Tucker] carefully examines the complicated geographic and ethnic factors that have determined Burma's development, and presents a detailed description of nationalist politics at the outset of WW II. Much attention is paid to Burma's extraordinary leader Aung San whose "triumph" was the 1947 "Aung San-Attlee Agreement" effectively nullifying Britain's wartime promises to Burmese minorities. The subsequent, much-celebrated "Panglong Agreement" promising regional autonomy was farcical at best. There followed a series of military governments --"narcocrats" and "kleptocrats" -- that have made Burma the world's largest heroin producer, supplying 56 percent of American consumption. In opposition there is only Aung San's brave daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi. "Save for a short period under British rule, Burma has never known peace or unity." . Very highly recommended for all levels and collections." -- CHOICE" As accurate and comprehensive an account as possible under research conditions that are hardly ideal -- in fact dauntingly hazardous. Tucker has added a useful "chronological guide to the Burmese civil war" and an impressive annotated bibliography. The maps and photographs are provocative." -- Multicultural Review"You read (this) book, find yourself discouraged for the future of this country, grasp for solutions and then start reading many chapters again. Buy the book, learn much more than you ever knew about Burma, and arrive at your own conclusions. Burma is extremely important to the USA or perhaps the reverse is true because of our large drug-user population. We would like to see a democratic, progressive government for these wonderful people but is that dream feasible? Read this bookbefore you venture solutions." -- Sound-off"The beginning begs one to follow the author into Burma, and the last chapter, which reviews existing interpretations and solutions not laid out in such a clear way before, picks up threads that seem promising and establishes a launching pad for new thinking. This is a must read for anyone wishing to catch up on Burma's past, to learn what scholars recommend as ways out of the present and directions to follow to look to the future." -- Professor Josef Silverstein, former Chairman of the Political Science Department at the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers, and former Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore'Tucker is endlessly fascinating and well-informed on this little known region of Asia where the end of "A Handful of Dust" by Evelyn Waugh elides surreally into Paul Theroux's "Mosquito Coast." -- Times Literary Supplement"Shelby Tucker's "Burma: The Curse of Independence" paints a colorful picture of the cultural and indeed psychological diversity of Burma's many different races. It then traces the unifying impact of colonization, eventually torn apart by the seismic events of the Japanese invasion and British reconquest. Following the killing of Aung San and the British departure, the author analyses the downward spiral of Burman misrule, its mistreatment of minorities and cooperation with the international traffic in drugs. Written with fluency and verve, the book has to be regarded as a standard work and is indispensable for the understanding of the travails of modern Burma.." -- John McEnery, author of "Epilogue in Burma"

'Tucker is endlessly fascinating and well-informed on this little known region of Asia where the end of A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh elides surreally into Paul Theroux's Mosquito Coast.' --Times Literary Supplement 'Written with fluency and verve, the book has to be regarded as a standard work and is indispensable for understanding the travails of modern Burma.' --John McEnery, author of Epilogue in Burma

Synopsis:

The Burmese Civil War began 12 weeks after Britain granted Burma independence in 1948 and has continued ever since. This book defines its core causes for readers who are new to the subject or baffled by its complexities. It shows how Burma "Herrenvolk" pretensions and unresolved ethnic divisions, Japanese conquest exacerbating these divisions, political rivalry among Burman nationalists preventing an orderly transfer of power, Aung San's assassination, the drugs trade, and the personal greed of Burma's military rulers have transformed the well-disciplined army of a wealthy colony into a ruthless instrument of an impoverished autocracy. Tucker draws on his experience as a trial lawyer to argue that Ne Win, and not the Burma politician hanged for the crime, murdered Aung San, and that the junta is the leading player in the country's flourishing drugs trade. Media emphasis on the junta's record of human rights abuse, he suggests, tends to obscure a strategic interest in ending the trade shared by all major powers.

He surveys various scholars' assessments of the prospect of the peaceful devolution of power to civilian rule and concludes by proposing measures for assisting change in Burma.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0745315461
• ISBN 13: 9780745315461
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304