Welcome to Myanmar, formerly Burma. A gateway to the Indian Ocean for
China and the home of massive oil and gas wealth that is an important
element of America’s Asia policy and China’s energy policy. It is also
run by a brutal military junta (renamed), is rife with sectarian
violence, and has just seen an entire community burned to the ground at a
key hub of Chinese operations.
Some might say Myanmar is no longer a military junta. But here we remind you that the new “reformist” government is led by President Thein Sein, who also enjoyed the “prime ministerial” post under the military junta. It’s all just been repackaged.
Myanmar remains dominated in every respect by the ethnic Burmese (only the urban ones, of course), despite the fact that ethnic minorities comprise half of the country’s population. Precariously, and very inconveniently for the government, these sidelined minorities are situated in border regions, in areas that are home to the lion’s share of fossil fuels reserves, and along international trade routes.
The government’s answer seems to be just to get rid of this half of the population. The minorities’ response to this gesture is to form their own militias to fight back. For years, the focus of the Western media has been on “pro-democracy” figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, who was cut out of various elections and placed under house arrest. But no one really bothered to examine exactly who Suu Kyi is: an elite ethnic Burmese. It was enough to hear the phrase “democracy” attached to her and “house arrest” to conclude that she was the answer to Myanmar’s military junta problems. Plus, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Read more: http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Asia/Myanmar-New-Frontline-for-East-West-Oil-Rush.html
Some might say Myanmar is no longer a military junta. But here we remind you that the new “reformist” government is led by President Thein Sein, who also enjoyed the “prime ministerial” post under the military junta. It’s all just been repackaged.
Myanmar remains dominated in every respect by the ethnic Burmese (only the urban ones, of course), despite the fact that ethnic minorities comprise half of the country’s population. Precariously, and very inconveniently for the government, these sidelined minorities are situated in border regions, in areas that are home to the lion’s share of fossil fuels reserves, and along international trade routes.
The government’s answer seems to be just to get rid of this half of the population. The minorities’ response to this gesture is to form their own militias to fight back. For years, the focus of the Western media has been on “pro-democracy” figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, who was cut out of various elections and placed under house arrest. But no one really bothered to examine exactly who Suu Kyi is: an elite ethnic Burmese. It was enough to hear the phrase “democracy” attached to her and “house arrest” to conclude that she was the answer to Myanmar’s military junta problems. Plus, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Read more: http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Asia/Myanmar-New-Frontline-for-East-West-Oil-Rush.html
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