At this weekend’s summit, Southeast Asian leaders need to take a firm and principled stance.
By
April 20, 2021
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In September 2012, Myanmar’s then President Thein Sein confidently told the U.N. General Assembly that the country’s democratic progress had become “irreversible.”
Almost a decade later, Thein Sein assertion on Myanmar’s democracy having reached a point no return has been proven wrong by Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and his colleagues, who staged a well-planned military coup on February 1 this year. The political, security, and humanitarian crisis that now grips Myanmar is a direct consequence of this reckless takeover by the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s military is known.
Imperial inheritance still dominates international relations irishtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This is Part II of a three-part series. View Part I here.
Among my happiest recollections of growing up in the eastern Indian state of Odisha was the
purnima (full moon) of
Kartika in the Hindu calendar (roughly October-November). On that day, our family would awake at dawn, walk to a river, lake, or pond, and launch small boats made of paper, banana tree bark, or lightweight cork material, with lamps or candles perched on top. This is how the people of Odisha (whose ancient name was Kalinga) celebrated the start of the annual voyages of their
sadhavas (merchants) in the years past to the faraway lands of Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo,
For North America and Europe to enjoy success from any of these moves, one thing will be necessary: both continents must cast off the airs of moral and cultural superiority to which their inhabitants are prone, and instead approach the countries of the Indo-Pacific as equal partners and on their own very varied terms.
Two recent stories indicate the extent to which this is not just a matter for leaders to navigate; local populations, often exoticised and rendered not fully adult by a variety of stereotypes in the West, are far more aware of being patronised by outsiders with neo-colonialist mindsets than might be imagined by their sterotypers.