Myanmar: ''New Geopolitical Status''

From Strategic Culture
By Igor Ignatchenko

''85% of oil and its products are supplied to China from the Persian Gulf and Africa across the Indian Ocean, including the narrow Malacca Strait controlled by the armed forces of USA and its regional allies. The area is subject to pirate attacks. In June 2011 Washington initiated the Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (Seacat) joint field training exercise involving the navies of the US, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei in the Malacca Strait. Beijing couldn’t but see it as a threat to the sea lanes that are used for supplies of hydrocarbons and other materials to the country. ''

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''Protest calls for Morsy to take a stand on violence in Myanmar''

From Daily News Egypt

''Around 100 members of the Free Egyptians Party (FEP) marched through Zamalek on Sunday to call for President Mohamed Morsy to take a stance on the violence against Muslims in Myanmar. The protest marched up Brazil Street towards the Embassy of Myanmar, only to be stopped by police 100 metres away from their target.''

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''President surprises with early Burma trip''

From SMH

The US President, Barack Obama, has surprised the world by choosing to travel to Burma two weeks after his re-election triumph, the first trip by a US president to the south-east Asian nation that is emerging from five decades of repressive military rule.

It will be viewed with concern in Beijing which has for decades been Burma's closest ally.

The visit is likely to dilute the influence of China in the country that is strategically located between India and China, the region's two big powers.

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''Burma attacks leave earth scorched''

From the Independent

''Human rights campaigners have called on the authorities in Burma to step in and protect civilians after satellite imagery showed the extent of destruction as a wave of fresh ethnic violence has swept the west of the country. More than 100 people have been killed in “vicious” attacks that started a week ago and activists believe the true death toll is likely considerably higher.''

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''What was Tony Blair doing in Burma?''

From Asian Correspondent

''It’ll be interesting to learn what exactly his intentions are in Burma. Since leaving office, he has set up a business consultancy firm, Tony Blair Consulting, and has reportedly earned some $100 million in various roles as consultant and business adviser to, among others, JP Morgan. What his motives are for courting Burma’s leaders are unclear, for as Farmaner notes, “Prime Minister Tony Blair showed little interest in Burma”. He had promised to introduce tougher sanctions when campaigning for office, but backtracked once in government. “The most we got was a bland three line statement on Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday,” says Farmaner.''

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''The Great Game, Burma Edition''

From WSJ via Phantom Report

''The Obama administration sent defense officials to Burma last week and may soon also allow Burmese officials to observe America’s biggest military drills in Asia. It’s the latest signal that Burma’s gradual reform process is providing new opportunities for Washington to pursue President Obama’s Asia pivot strategy. China, which until recently had enjoyed a privileged position in the hierarchy of Burma’s foreign relations, will probably view this nascent relationship with great suspicion.''

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"The Making of Modern Myanmar''

The Making of Modern Myanmar: The Present in the Past from East-West Center on Vimeo.

India: ''PM leaves for Myanmar, energy need and China in focus''

From Hindustan Times

''Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday left for Myanmar on a three-day trip that will see him unveil new initiatives in expanding trade and energy cooperation with the oil-rich country besides inking a pact on a bus service between Imphal and Mandalay. Singh said he hoped to focus on stronger trade and investment links, development of border areas and improving connectivity between India and Myanmar.

India remains "committed to a close, cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with the government and people of Myanmar," Singh said in a statement before leaving for Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.''

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''China wary of bilateral ties between India and Myanmar''

From Hindustan Times

''China is both Myanmar's most influential foreign neighbour and its most nervous. No country is as deeply entrenched in the economy of Myanmar while being so wary of the political reforms that began there last year. This poses a challenge to India on several levels.''

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''The US-Indian axis is working overtime to keep China out of Bay of Bengal''

Clinton takes charge of Mamata

From Indian Punchline
MK Bhadrakumar

"There are huge business opportunities opening up for Big Oil and the American companies in Bangladesh and Myanmar and their vast economic zones in the Bay of Bengal now that the maritime boundary dispute between the two countries has been resolved. Kolkatta is the gateway that connects the Indian market with the El Dorado. 

To be sure, Mamata has a crucial role to play in the US geostrategy, which also happens to be a crucial template of Washington’s ‘containment’ strategy toward China. That is, provided she graduates from being a mofussil politician and mercurial street fighter and intellectually and politically develops what we Indians usually call a ‘vision’. This is a bit like ‘educating Rita’. Clinton is going to give Mamata the first lessons.''

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''The great game comes to Bangladesh''

From Russia & India Report
By MK Bhadrakumar

..........''the US policies toward Myanmar and Bangladesh are inter-connected and, in turn, they emanate out of Washington’s ‘containment’ strategy toward China. Clinton’s visit to Dhaka follows her recent trip to Myanmar – and from Dhaka she is proceeding to India. The state secretary’s South Asian jaunt is also sandwiched between the meeting of the US-China strategic dialogue forum in Beijing this week and the forthcoming session of the US-India strategic dialogue in Washington next month. Clinton co-chairs both these forums.''

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Pepe Escobar: ''Al-Qaeda bogeyman gone, US bent on bugging China''

From RT.com....

''The race is on for Burma’s resources''

From New Europe
By David Cronin

"I fear that it will soon be possible to draw another parallel. Following his release, Mandela and his comrades were persuaded to turn South Africa into a dreamland for global corporations. The ANC proved so “generous” in allowing foreign investors take their profits out of the country that in 2001 George Soros told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: “South Africa is now in the hands of international capital.” By some indicators, the poor got poorer.

Is a similar process underway in Burma?"

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Photo Essay: Myanmar

From Boston.com

"Is the recent political thaw in Myanmar genuine? Democratic elections are coming to the long-reclusive southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, formerly Burma. A long military dictatorship has nominally ended, and the regime has signed peace treaties with several ethnic separatist insurgencies. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's long house arrest is over, and she is campaigning for a seat in Parliament in the upcoming April 1 vote. Western investment is beginning to mass, which may ultimately be the reason the country is finally opening its doors. Other speculation on the thaw points to the incompetent emergency response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which left as many as 140,000 dead and sowed deep dissatisfaction with the government. Whatever the reasons for the unprecedented opening, the isolated and impoverished Burmese people are eager to reconnect with and catch their more developed neighbors in ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations. While it's impossible to represent every corner of any nation, collected here are images from the last couple of months in Myanmar, a nation of 55 million. -- Lane Turner (41 photos total)"

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''Reintegrating Myanmar''

From EU Observer

"The recent parliamentary by-elections in Myanmar [formerly called Burma] were a litmus test for the country's transition to democracy and the regime's commitment to reform. The elections now invite the West and Europe to consider scaling back sanctions, which have caused acute poverty and underdevelopment.

A landslide victory secured 43 of 45 vacant seats for Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) making them the leading opposition force in a 664-member parliament. But the NLD will fill only a small number of seats in Myanmar's 1160-seat three chamber legislature."

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''The Geopolitics of Burmese Democracy''

From Geopolitical Monitor

"Without a doubt, China has the most to lose from Burmese domestic reform. During the long years of Western sanctions and international isolation, Burma could always turn to Beijing for moral and material support. This was a particularly beneficial relationship as far as Beijing was concerned. It allowed for an authoritarian, anti-Western bulwark on China’s border and also provided access to the Adaman Sea; a critical valve for easing reliance on energy imports through the Straits of Malacca.

But some Burmese officials have viewed this Chinese lifeline as a Trojan Horse that not only risks inflaming historical animosities, but also brazenly plunders Burma’s considerable natural resource wealth as well."

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''Myanmar needs regulatory reform''

.............."Indeed, from a realist perspective one could argue that this is why Myanmar began liberalising in the first place: the government had grown tired of Chinese capitalist imperialism and did not want to become a de facto annex of the People's Republic, and so the generals sought to bring the West into the picture as a counterweight. A 346-page internal military report entitled "A Study of Myanmar-US Relations" circulated in 2004 corroborates this line of thinking."

" Further, "Myanmar must normalise relations with the West after implementing [a development] roadmap and electing a government so that the regime can deal with the outside world on more acceptable terms."  

from aljazeera....

''The West tries to steal Burma from China''

"Until the end of the 1980s, China had bad relations with Burma because of Beijing's support of the "Chinese expansionism". After 1986, China has significantly limited the support of the rebels operating in Burma in exchange for cooperation with the military junta and increased access to markets. India has expressed concern about the fact that Burma has provided the Chinese military bases on the islands of Coco in the Andaman Sea."


from russia & india report.....

''Burma Reveals Its External Debt Is $11 Billion''

is this why they opened up th the west?....

"Burma owes US $11 billion in foreign debt—some of it decades old—and is negotiating with Japan and Italy to repay the outstanding sums, the finance minister said, disclosing the country's external debt for the first time in recent years.

Burma’s economy was stunted for many years by mismanagement and by Western sanctions imposed as the long-ruling military failed to implement democratic reforms. The military-backed but elected government that took office last year has pushed political and economic changes."

from the irrawaddy...

''Burmese ministers sign a ceasefire pact''

what did the west promise myanmar?.....lots of interesting things happening there....

from sbs australia......