Myanmar's Long Road to National Reconciliation (50 page)

²
   I wish to thank Shu-Yun Ma of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who modified and applied the model to analyse the case of Chinese exiles, for his generous guidance in applying it to Burma. For his excellent application of the model to the Chinese case, see Shu-Yun Ma, “Exit, Voice, and Struggle to Return of the Chinese Political Exiles”,
Pacific Affairs,
Vol. 66, No. 3 (1993). For the original concepts of exit-voice-loyalty, see Albert O. Hirschman,
Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970).

³
   Charles Tilly,
From Mobilization to Revolution
(Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1978).

⁴
   Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink,
Activists Beyond Borders. Advocacy Networks in International Politics
(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998).

⁵
   Peter Eisinger, “The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities”,
American Political Science Review,
Vol. 67 (1973), pp. 11–28; Donald R. Culverson, “The Politics of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the United States, 1969–1986”,
Political Science Quarterly,
Vol. 111, No. 1 (Spring 1996), pp. 127–49.

⁶
   For a more comprehensive account of national struggles for independence and subsequent developments, see Josef Silverstein,
Burma: Military Rule and the Politics of Stagnation
(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977); David I. Steinberg,
Burma’s Road Toward Development: Growth and Ideology under Military Rule
(Boulder: Westview Press, 1981); and Mya Maung,
Totalitarianism in Burma: Prospects for Economic Development
(New York: Paragon Press, 1992), p. 19.

⁷
   Mary P. Callahan, “Democracy in Burma: Lessons from History”, in “Political Legacies and Prospects for Democratic Development”,
NBR Analysis,
Vol. 9, No. 3 (May 1998), pp. 5–26.

⁸
   Ibid. The destructive form of power struggles at the apex of the dominant power system continued well into the socialist era of General Ne Win. See also, Kyaw Yin Hlaing, “Reconsidering the Failure of the Burma Socialist Programme Party Government to Eradicate Internal Economic Impediments”,
Southeast Asia Research,
Vol. 11, No. 1 (2003), pp. 5–58.

⁹
   An excellent account of popular uprisings in 1988 can be found in Bertil Lintner,
Outrage: Burma’s Struggle for Democracy
(Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1990).

¹⁰
   Freedom House, “Burma”, in
Freedom in the World 2003
(Washington, D.C.: Freedom House, 2004).

¹¹
   Yossi Shain, “The Role of Diasporas in Conflict Perpetuation or Resolution”,
SAIS Review,
Vol. 22, No. 2 (Summer–Fall 2002), pp. 115–44.

¹²
   Amol Sharma, “Come Home, We Need You”,
Far Eastern Economic Review,
23 January 2003.

¹³
   T. Faist, “Transnationalization in International Migration: Implications for the Study of Citizenship and Culture”,
Ethnic and Racial Studies,
Vol. 23, No. 2 (March 2000), pp. 189–222.

¹⁴
   S. Tambiah, “Transnational Movements, Diaspora, and Multiple Modernities: Transnational Movements of People and Their Implications”,
Daedalus,
Vol. 129, No. 1 (Winter 2000), pp. 163–94.

¹⁵
   Timothy Syrota,
Welcome to Burma and Enjoy the Totalitarian Experience
(Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2001).

¹⁶
   There is an estimate that two million Burmese refugees and illegal immigrants are living and working in the neighboring countries of Thailand, India, and China.

¹⁷
   Office of Immigration Statistics,
2002 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics
(Washington D.C.: Office of Immigration Statistics, 2002). However, the numbers do not include those who could have entered the United States under normal immigration procedures. The individuals under asylum-seeker and refugee categories represent a segment of the diaspora population that is traumatized but may be more politically active than those in other categories.

¹⁸
   Author’s estimate, counting those who continue to associate with and participate in Burmese traditional events and festivals organized by the diaspora communities around the United States.

¹⁹
   Philippe C. Schmitter, “The Influence of the International Context upon the Choice of National Institutions and Policies in Neo-Democracies”, in
The International Dimensions of Democratization: Europe and the Americas,
edited by Laurence Whitehead (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). There was no foreign television coverage of the popular uprisings in Burma in 1988. The killings in Burma that year were much more brutal and sustained than those that occurred a year later in Tiananmen Square in China. However, international awareness of Burma’s uprisings was low in comparison with knowledge about the Tiananmen Square “massacre”, which was widely covered by CNN and other foreign broadcasting stations.

²⁰
   Roger Matthew, “A Beaten, Tortured People”,
Financial Times,
19 May 1990. Likewise, a long-time Burmese observer, Professor Josef Silverstein of Rutgers University, wrote in the
New York Times
on 15 September 1989, “[T]he world was thrilled and then horrified by events in Tiananmen Square, but forgot or did not know that more people took part in peaceful demonstrations for democracy in the Burmese capital between Aug. 8 and Sept. 18; that more students were murdered by the military in Myanmar than were killed in China.”

²¹
   Amnesty International, “Myanmar: Prisoners of Conscience, Torture, and Extrajudicial Executions”,
Amnesty International Country Report: Burma
(Myanmar)
(London: Amnesty International, 1990). Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations followed suit in succeeding years.

²²
   “Myanmar: Arachnophilia,”
Economist,
10 August 1996.

²³
   A. Lin Neumann, “The Resistance Network,”
Wired,
Vol. 4, No. 1 (January 1996).

²⁴
   Josef Silverstein, “Burma’s Uneven Struggle”,
Journal of Democracy,
Vol. 7, No. 4 (October 1996), pp. 88–102.

²⁵
   Chris Tenove, “Radio Free Burma”,
Thunderbird
(University of British Columbia Journalism Review), Vol. 2, No. 4 (March 2000).

²⁶
   Keck and Sikkink,
Activists Beyond Borders.

²⁷
   The Open Society Institute (OSI) of the Soros Foundation funded the BurmaNet project and other information and Internet-related activities. In the initial years of emerging connectivity among Burmese organizations, the Burma Project of the OSI used at minimum 25 per cent of their project funding (on average about $400,000) on information and ICT activities during 1994 and 1996. See, Open Society Institute-New York, “Burma Project Report 1994–1996”. Available at:
http://www.soros.org/burma
. Accessed 27 July 2005.

²⁸
   See Zarni’s “Foreword” in Free Burma Coalition,
The Free Burma Coalition Manual: How You Can Help Burma’s Struggle for Freedom
(Madison, WI: Free Burma Coalition, 1997).

²⁹
   Ann Scott Tyson, “Political Activism on Campus Takes on a Cyberspace Twist”,
Christian Science Monitor,
31 October 1995.

³⁰
   A very good account of campaign dynamics and the importance of the Internet in cyber-activism on Burma are covered in Tiffany Daniz and Warren P. Strobel,
Networking Dissent: Cyber Activists Use the Internet to Promote Democracy in Burma,
Virtual Diplomacy Series No. 3 (February 2000), United States Institute of Peace (Washington D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2000).

³¹
   “Heineken NV: Brewer Decides To Pull Out of Its Business in Burma”,
Wall Street Journal,
12 July 1996.

³²
   In fact, Ericsson headquarters cited US boycotts for its concerns and eventual decision to suspend business in Burma. See Ericsson official announcement at:
http://www.ericsson.com/press/archive/1998Q3/19980901-0023.html
. Accessed 17 May 2003.

³³
   BBC News “Bra company pulls out of Burma”, 28 January 2002.

³⁴
   BBC News, “Barbed-wire bra protest over Burma investment”, 10 December 2001.

³⁵
   International Parliamentary Union (IPU), a body that represents over a hundred national parliaments around the world, in its 166th conference adopted a resolution calling for all its members to sign the solidarity resolution. See
http://www.ipu.org/hr-e/166/myn01.htm
. Accessed 17 May 2003.

³⁶
   The government-in-exile’s website,
www.ncgub.net
, served as a campaign headquarters that contained frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the campaign, as well as a list of signatories, updated frequently to show the growth of support on a daily and weekly basis.

³⁷
   Mark Lander, “On the Road to Mandalay: An Ethical Predicament”,
New York Times,
1 January 2002.

³⁸
   For instance, the internationally-renowned meditation teacher, S.N. Goenka, was invited as a state guest, and the title of
Maha Saddhamma Joti Dhaja,
the highest title awarded to any layman in Burma, was bestowed on him.

³⁹
   Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, Jr., “Power and Interdependence in the Information Age,”
Foreign Affairs
(September/October 1998), 105.

⁴⁰
   In an interesting comparative study done by Kevin A. Hill and John E. Hughes, during the week of 26 October 1996, 40 per cent of messages on the usenet newsgroup, soc.culture.burma, were politically oriented and 24 per cent were anti-government. This author finds that the website soc.culture.burma remains highly political. However, it has begun to include a number of messages highly critical of the opposition leadership along with anti-military messages. See Kevin A. Hill and John E. Hughes, “Is the Internet an Instrument of Global Democratization”, in
Cyberpolitics: Citizen Activism in the Age of the Internet,
by Kevin A. Hill and John E. Hughes (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998).

⁴¹
   An independent Thailand-based Burmese reporter commented that “[W]e have to be afraid of the Thai authorities, the Burmese authorities and the rebel authorities.” Cited in A. Lin Neumann, “Burma Under Pressure: How Burmese Journalism Survives in One of the World’s Most Repressive Regimes”, Press Freedom Reports from Around the World, for the Committee to Protect Journalists, 2002. Available at:
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2002/Burma_feb02/Burma_feb02.html
. Accessed 27 July 2005.

⁴²
   From 1996 onward, successive United Nations General Assemblies have passed a unanimous resolution on Burma, calling for a “tri-partite dialogue” process involving the military, the NLD, and ethnic nationalities, to resolve the political stalemate in Burma. The Internet has encouraged several ethnic nationality groups in exile to re-assemble their representational positions toward this goal.

⁴³
   Steven R. David, “Internal War: Causes and Cures,” Review Article,
World Politics,
Vol. 49, No. 4 (1997), pp. 552–76.

⁴⁴
   Mya Maung,
Burmese Way to Capitalism
(New York: Praeger, 1998).

⁴⁵
   The list servers are hosted by the Indiana University at Bloomington; messages can be sent to
[email protected]
, and
[email protected]
.

⁴⁶
   Sean Turnell and Alison Vicary, “Burma’s Banking Crisis: A Commentary,”
Burma Economic Watch,
Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 6 March 2003. See
http://www.burmalibrary.org/search.php?t=k&sstr=banking&c=0&q=all&o=d&f0=1&a0=1&v=1
. Accessed 27 July 2005.

⁴⁷
   The BBC has also put up commentaries for and against the use of sanctions in Burma. See
www.bbc.co.uk
, accessed on 1 March 2003.

Allott, Anna J.
Censorship in Burma — Inked Over, Ripped Out: Burmese Storytellers and the Censors.
Chiang Mai: Silkworm Press, 1994.

Ashton, William. “Burma Receives Advances from its Silent Suitors in Singapore”.
Jane’s Intelligence Review,
Vol. 10, No. 3 (1 March 1998).

Associated Press. “Myanmar Issues Tough Restrictions Even Before it Allows the Internet”. 21 January 2000.