Burma/Myanmar

Friday Five: January 4, 2013

In Myanmar, the government has admitted that significant military force has been utilized against the Kachin rebels in the northern part of the country. This week China understandably filed a diplomatic complaint about three bombs that were dropped into its…

The Leaderboard: U Soe Thane

Who is he? His Excellency U Soe Thane is a minister in the President’s Office and head of the Myanmar Investment Commission. In his role in the President’s Office, Soe Thane serves on the so-called super-cabinet that advises President Thein…

By the Numbers: Surveying Southeast Asia

Several surveys were released in recent weeks assessing aspects of governance, security, and quality of life worldwide, including Transparency International’s Corruptions Perception index, the Clean Air Asia Report, and the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law index. We have summarized…

The Leaderboard: Aye Maung

Who is he? Dr. Aye Maung is chairman of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and a member of parliament of the Union of Myanmar representing Rakhine state in western Myanmar. Although the RNDP was only formed in 2010, Aye…

Revitalizing the Bali Democracy Forum

By Jeremiah Magpile The Indonesian Foreign Ministry in 2008 established the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) as an intergovernmental platform to strengthen democratic institutions in the Asia-Pacific. The international community at the time, including the United States, lauded the BDF’s dialogue-based…