SPDC'S UNPOPULAR FOREIGN POLICY A

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Subject: SPDC'S UNPOPULAR FOREIGN POLICY  A LA MILITAIRE

SPDC'S UNPOPULAR FOREIGN POLICY A LA MILITAIRE
By Julien Moe
16th Oct 1999

Thailand's economy does not depend  on Burma. With fewer restrictions in the
fiscal system, Thailand has been making progress as a developing nation in
Asia. As the economy gets better and better,the political reforms
ameliorate. And the military brasshats' grip on power is fading. The
military role in Thai politics is loosening. The Thai democracy has become
more stable.

Yet the unpopular regime in Burma , the neighbouring nation with cruel and
evil intentions, has tried things that a democracy cannot imagine doing to
another democracy. Threatening the Thai government with extended border
closures unless SPDC's demand to capture the  5 students responsible for the
hostage crisis that occured 2 weeks ago is fulfilled by the Thai
authorities. That was a foreign policy that will only worsen the relations
between Burma and Thailand. Such a threat also proves the fact that the
hostage crisis hit the regime so hard because the regime is responding so
seriously to the incident. The authorities in Rangoon are busy holding
meetings among the senior members of the regime. They have to deal with the
representatives from UN, the World Bank and the IMF. These days the regime
could care less. The military operations against the SSA, another military
confrontation against the KNU and now the worsening  relations with the
neighbour, Thailand, are what is bothering the unpopular regime in Burma.

If foreign policies are prescribed a la militaire, then the neighbouring
country will not surely want to  be traeted  as if they were under house
arrest. The regime so much isolated and desperate for recognition is going
nowhere and the nation itself is staying too many strides behind
neighbouring countries. If there are restrictions either in political
reforms or economic reforms, there will be just stagnation. No progress is
guaranteed by such status quo. It also applies to the foreign policy
regarding neibouring countries. Thanking Thailand for diffusing the hostage
crisis peacefully and condemning for letting the hostage takers go free have
made the Thais feel awkward. And it is bringing no progress towards Burma or
its people.