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UNDERSTANDING MYANMAR:

A COMPLEX HISTORY

SCHOLAR DAVID 1. STEINBERG, representative of The Asia Foundation in Korea and
Director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, recently published an Asia
Foundation " Working Paper" entitled " Myanmar; The Anomalies of Politics and
Economics." Contrasted to Korea and Thailand three decades ago, Myanmar was at
an advanced stage of development. What happened? The start of a multipart
series of excerpts follows. 

ON THE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENTS:

In Burma, there were two seminal and related events involving the military [as
the dominant national institution] : one in 1958 and the other in 1962. The
first was the " constitutional" military coup under which the civilian
government of NU "invited" General Ne Win and the armed forces to run the
government for an interim period to avoid a brewing civil war between factions
within the ruling civilian political party, the Anti-Fascist People?s Freedom
League (AFPFL); a broad coalition of disparate elements.... 

This 18- month experience, known as the caretaker Government, was a heady one
for the military. It gave them administrative experience a prominent political
mobilization role, confidence in their modernity and vision, and placed them
of the centre of various economic activities.... 

Nationalism thus became the overarching rationale that influenced all
policies, while social concerns for the poor guided [ the country's] economic
and growth pattems.... 

THE CARETAKER GOVERNMENT; ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL AUTHORITY IN THE MILITARY 

The caretaker experience (1958-60) may well have been the defining period for
the military in Burma. They had absolute power, were generally popular: had a
limited time horizon( It was extended from six to 18 months) during which they
could make changes; the economic and security situation started from a low
base, as the overall standard of living in the country had not yet been
restored to per- World War levels; and insurgencies continued. There was, in a
sense no where to go but up. 

A wide variety of decisions, some ephemeral, some relatively permanent, were
made in that period. Prices were temporarily lowered in the bazaar on military
orders. The "magic" of the market place did cot matter. Over 160,000 squatter
were forcibly removed form downtown Rangoon to the rice paddies on the
periphery to the city where they were given plots of land, but few services( a
pattern that the State Law and Order Restoration Council( SLORC) was to repeat
on a larger, nationwide basis).... 

Important for future economic policies and performance was the expansion of
the Defense Services Institute (DSI), the military-run state economic sector.
In additional trade, the military established the Five Star Shipping Lines,
the Ava Bank, department stores, hotels and an electronics workshop. The
effective running of such a broad range of economic activities gave the
military confidence that they could, in fact, run the country?s economy as
well. 

In addition to their own economic activates, military personnel were placed in
all ministries and at all levels of administration. They brought with them
enthusiasms and disdain for the bureaucracy, which was regarded ad corrupt,
politicized or incompetent. Both because they were making shorter- term
decisions within the administration, and because they operated under a tight
command structure, They appeared to be efficient as well as forceful.... 

Most importantly, beyond individual military decisions was a pervasive sense
of pride in military accomplishments that was widely shared, and which, in
retrospect, was the basis on which future military rule was built. This
emotion was propagated and epitomized in the publishing of their summary of
military rule, "Is Trust vindicated?" A paean to past accomplishments. The
military?s self-perception of its role was graphically illustrated on that
volume?s dust jacket, which pictured Hercules cleaning out the Augean
stables." 

In Future issues; "What caused the legalized military coup of 1958 and indeed
the coup of 1962?"
*********