A New Chapter in the History of Burma-Myanmar: What Will It Bring about?

On November 7, 2010 the so-called democratic elections were held in the Union of Myanmar. The name of the state was changed once again, like in October 1988, this time to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The flag of the state has also changed. The generals took off their uniforms. Does it mean that we have a new, democratic chapter in the history of this unfortunate state? Especially that on November 13 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has finally, this time after 7 years (and 15 years altogether in the last 21), been released from her house arrest? In this short study (partly an introduction to this volume dealing with Burma-Mynamar), the author is trying to assess the current situation in this troubled country reaching the conclusion that this recent political exercise resembles what general Ne Win, the former dictator of Burma, did in the middle of the 1970’s. In other words, there is no guarantee whatsoever that this time, finally, Mynamar is getting closer to a real democracy. A litmus test of what is really going on there will be the attitude of the new “democratic” rulers in Naypyidaw, the new capital of the country since 2005, towards Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers. The chapter is also a short history of modern Burma, since Ne Win’s fateful coup d’etat in 1962