The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century - Hardcover

Myint-U, Thant

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1324003294 ISBN 13: 9781324003298

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019

Synopsis

How did one of the world’s "buzzy hotspots" (Fodor’s 2013) become one of the top ten places to avoid (Fodor’s 2018)?

Precariously positioned between China and India, Burma’s population has suffered dictatorship, natural disaster, and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from long years of house arrest, hopes soared. World leaders such as Barack Obama ushered in waves of international support. Progress seemed inevitable.

As historian, former diplomat, and presidential advisor, Thant Myint-U saw the cracks forming. In this insider’s diagnosis of a country at a breaking point, he dissects how a singularly predatory economic system, fast-rising inequality, disintegrating state institutions, the impact of new social media, the rise of China next door, climate change, and deep-seated feelings around race, religion, and national identity all came together to challenge the incipient democracy. Interracial violence soared and a horrific exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fixed international attention. Myint-U explains how and why this happened, and details an unsettling prognosis for the future.

Burma is today a fragile stage for nearly all the world’s problems. Are democracy and an economy that genuinely serves all its people possible in Burma? In clear and urgent prose, Myint-U explores this question―a concern not just for the Burmese but for the rest of the world―warning of the possible collapse of this nation of 55 million while suggesting a fresh agenda for change.

About this title

About the Author:

Thant Myint-U is an award-winning writer, historian and conservationist. He served for over a decade with the United Nations, including in peacekeeping operations in Cambodia and the Balkans, and was an advisor to the Burmese government during the early years of the transition from military dictatorship. He lives in Rangoon, where he currently heads U Thant House and the Yangon Heritage Trust.

Review:

“Thant Myint-U is the greatest living historian of Burma...His profoundly humane and ethical meditations on national identity, plurality, and the dangers of hyper-nationalism are vital to anyone trying to understand the Rohingya crisis or wrestling with the complexities of modern South or South East Asia.”
- William Dalrymple, author of The Anarchy

“At once absorbing, illuminating, and humane, Thant Myint-U’s work traces the complex gearings of race, identity, and money with the perspective of a scholar and the intimacy of an insider. It’s invaluable in helping us understand the complexities not just of contemporary Burma but of our postcolonial world.”
- Kwame Anthony Appiah, author of The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity

“The book on Burma I’ve been waiting to read―a riveting behind-the-scenes account of the country’s political and social transition over recent years, a brave unravelling of well-worn myths, and an urgent plea to imagine a new story and better future for Burma.”
- Emma Larkin, author of Finding George Orwell in Burma

“Thant Myint-U deftly weaves together factors as diverse as nationalism, capitalism, geopolitics, and social media into a clear-eyed analysis of Burma’s troubled past and present. An essential read for anyone who wants to understand Burma and the challenges it must face in the coming decades.”
- Kishore Mahbubani, author of Has the West Lost It? A Provocation

“Few countries are as complex―or fascinating―as modern-day Burma. In these pages, Thant Myint-U explains the country’s fifteen-year transformation from military junta to peaceful democracy to divided and fractured post-crisis country. A must-read book, not just for those interested in Burma, but for those interested in broader questions of race, national identity and democracy in our 21st-century world.”
- Ian Bremmer, author of Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism

“Acute yet empathetic, this book is essential reading for all those interested in the future of Asia and the subcontinent.”
- Shivshankar Menon, former foreign secretary of India

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1324003294
• ISBN 13: 9781324003298
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304