ETHNIC NATIONALITIES COUNCIL

We live in an era, according to many people I respect, in which tenets of capitalism that a decade ago seemed unshakably part of the 21^st century are being challenged. Ian Bremmer’s upcoming book, “Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World,” builds on a theme we’re both fond of: that the competition between state capitalism and market economics is very real, but that it need not split the world into Cold War-like warring tribes if managed properly.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her speech to Kachin State said, “Everyone must adhere to the spirit of Panglong, which is based on equality and unity, with respect, faith and belief in each other. All of these are essential for creating and maintaining a genuine democracy.”  She seems to strike the right note because now the people of Burma had slowly discovered that it was the Tatmadaw controlled by the hard liners pulled by Than Shwe are really

Myanmar's military has seemingly faded to the background as former khaki-wearing military officers now wear civilian garbs in President Thein Sein's reformist elected government. Outside the halls of the new parliament, however, the military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, is still the country's chief ruling power judging by recent budget allocations.

Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace is a magnificent historical novel that begins with the demise of the Konbaung dynasty in ‘Burma’ (1885) and ends with the emergence of a democracy movement in ‘Myanmar’ symbolised by Aung San Suu Kyi (1988). First published in 2000, the novel has a renewed significance today given the revitalisation of the democracy movement in the country.

The remarkable, surprising and extensive reformist policies of the new Republic of the Union of Myanmar have sparked interest throughout the international community. As one of the world’s last bastions of both relative isolation and new opportunities, Burma has recently become a magnet to which many are drawn.