"The briefer is released ahead of Burma?s 60th anniversary of independence on 4 January 2008. 2008 also marks 20 years since the 8888 uprising. The brief socio-economic overview of Burma?s past 60 years presents the grim realization that the past two years have witnessed a sharp decline in Burma on all fronts. Despite public relations efforts aimed at staving off both external and internal pressure, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has perpetrated such serious mismanagement, repression and corruption that the consequences are not only threatening Burma?s stability but that of its immediate region as well."