| Summary/Abstract |
Given the tendency of nascent democracies to relapse, observers have debated how stable Myanmar’s political and economic transitions are and if the international community can offer any help. The books under review caution against treating Myanmar as a tabula rasa waiting to be inscribed with alien dreams. They uncover a complex institutional topography, where imported reform packages will do more harm than good. Indeed, the motivation for and the shape of Myanmar’s reforms are almost entirely indigenous. The decision to open-up the polity and economy was taken in the late 1980s. The army's inability to handle political dissent derailed the nascent reforms though and the subsequent international sanctions pushed Myanmar toward China. Eventually, the compulsion to reduce the ‘unbalanced,’ ‘asymmetric’ and ‘involuntary’ dependence upon China provided the trigger for reforms. The pace of reforms will, however, depend largely on domestic factors including the loosening of the army’s grip over avenues of socioeconomic mobility. The majority community’s Buddhist background will also play a major role in shaping Myanmar’s political future. It remains to be seen whether Buddhism will constrain Myanmar to follow the path of other Theravada Buddhist societies or enable it to evolve into a deliberative, transformational democracy.
|