Independent report challenges Europe to reassess Myanmar

By Editor-in-Chief Ross Dunkley

STARTING with the recognition of Myanmar as the official name of the country, a powerful and compelling independent report commissioned by the European Union has called for an alternative, sweeping approach on how best to help Myanmar achieve national reconciliation, develop its economy and build a civil society.

Its backbone emanates from recognition that the EU’s strategy in the past 15 years has been a failure - that now is the opportune time to move away from a US-led ideology based on isolation and sanctions which have had negative effects on the Myanmar people and society.

The report challenges the EU to take the unique opportunity and lead a renewed and more effective effort to help Myanmar fulfil its aspiration for a freer and better life.

It also highlights the vital importance of governance and economic factors in generating the conditions for a sustainable political opening toward a more democratic society.

Compiled by Professor Robert Taylor and Mr Morten Pederson, Myanmar experts with 30 years experience, the paper has been circulated to all the member government and the European Commission members concerned with aid, development and foreign affairs.

It will be presented at an open Myanmar Day public meeting in Brussels on 5 April where the authors and others will speak.

Professor Taylor is a leading scholar and author on Myanmar, conducted extensive research at Yangon University in 1978 and 1982 and has visited Myanmar frequently since 1975. He is a former professor of Politics at the University of London and is currently a Visiting Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

Morten Pedersen works as a Senior Analyst for the International Crisis Group and is a consultant on Myanmar to various governments and international organisations.

In its essence, the two academics offer a critical assessment of EU policy and recommend significant changes in policy beginning with recognition that Myanmar is the official name of the country. “The insistence by foreigners on using ‘Burma’ when the official name of the country is Myanmar is an insult to the national pride of the leaders and only reinforces their perception that European governments lack respect for Myanmar and its people,” they said.

Other wide-reaching recommendations include:

- Resuming high level visits at a senior level

- Developing an assistance strategy with associated funding

- Lifting political constraints on aid

- Encouraging a normalisation of the role of international financial institutions and UN agencies

“Many aspects of governance and life in general Myanmar have changed,” the authors say in their report titled Supporting Myanmar’s National Reconciliation Process: Challenges & Opportunities.

“Owing to extensive infrastructure development and the cessation of armed hostilities in most parts of the country, Myanmar is now much more physically and psychologically integrated than at any time in its past.

“These ceasefire agreements have given leaders on all sides an interest in maintaining peace and stability. The country is also far more open to foreign influence than previously and positive relationships have been established with all of its neighbours,” said Dr Taylor and Mr Pedersen.

The report says that although there is no certain prescription for managing transitions from a military government to multiparty elected governments, global experience including that of Myanmar’s Asian neighbours, demonstrates that the presence of certain precursors creates the conditions for easier and more assured change.

Comparative studies show that countries which are riven with ethnic and religious conflict, where the sense of national unity and identity is weak, have fraught prospects for developing and sustaining democracy. Myanmar’s 50 years of civil war and ethnic conflict provide infertile soil for the development of a sustainable democracy.

“Civil society needs to be nurtured and developed to create the social capital for democratic institutions to thrive,” the authors said.

“The current policies of the West, directed at isolating and undermining the government, have in reality isolated and undermined the social and economic institutions which the country requires if it is to become a viable democracy.”

In their 32-page report the two academics put forward the view that the EU and the international community should work to promote three longer term process of change – political liberalisation, peace-building and social-economic development. This, they say, will result in a more meaningful and sustainable reform process.

“Opponents of the government argue that it lacks commitment to developing the economy; some have even suggested that it is deliberately keeping the people poor to ensure control. This is not borne out by observations on the ground,” they said.

“The leaders are proud nationalists who wish to see their country catch up with its neighbours in the region.

The report also calls for the participation of global finance institutions (such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) in Myanmar’s reconstruction. Addressing macro-economic issues would remain extremely limited without access to these global institutions, it noted.

Professor Taylor and Mr Pedersen urged the EU to adopt a fresh way of thinking in order to advance the welfare of all the Myanmar people.

That, they say, requires a strategy which not only develops the economic and political capacity of civil society but also reveals to the government the advantages of opening up the political process.

Myanmar Times (28th March-3rd April 2005)