Towards an open society in Burma/Myanmar through interactions and integration
About the Free Burma Coalition
FBC
Activists Launching Pepsi Boycott, Chapel Hills, NC, USA, October 1995
No more "Free Burma" Boycotts
The
FBC was founded at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1995 as a
Burmese-led political initiative to support Burmese people's aspirations
and struggle for democracy and human rights through boycotts, pro-sanctions
advocacy and Burma awareness promotion. For nearly one decade, we organized
and successfully spearheaded the anti-apartheid- style pro-sanctions campaigns.
But after having reviewed the effectiveness of our pro-sanctions campaigns
against the objective of building an open society back home, we have categorically
reversed our pro-isolation advocacy.
We
now support efforts to interact and engage with the country - that is,
the 'evil' junta, business sector and the society at large. We encourage
travel and tourism, educational and cultural exchange, development activities
aimed to support people's livelihoods, institutional and capacity building,
and humanitarian assistance.
"Free Burma Coalition supports fully tourism and travel to Myanmar
(Burma) as part of its support for the emergence of an open
society."
Want to visit Myanmar (Burma)? Consult with the Voices for Burma, ethical tourism promotion group.
http://www.voicesforburma.org and antor
Useful Links About Burma
More Useful Links Exclusive Cruises Visit
F A
Short Guide to Myanmar and the International Community: Derek Tonkin,
Former British Ambassador, 4 January 2006 Development
and Democracy Think
Global : Robert
Fisk on End of the Year Review, Dec 2005 An
old Karen Lady in traditional attire:
Your
Homework?:
Background Readings on Burma/Myanmar
The
Burmese Conflict in a Nutshell: Burma/Myanmar 101
Click here to read
the backgrounder.
An EU Strategy for Burma/Myanmar- Harn Y.
An
Integrated Approach to National and Human Security in Burma/Myanmar
Zarni, Institute of Education, London, '05
Leaving Home: Amnesty International Report
7 September 2005
"Common
Problems,
Shared Responsibilities": FBC Report
14
September 2004
FBC
Report (Executive Summary)
Essays
on
Social Change: Learning from Others
Foreign Affairs, Sept/Oct '05
China
Unrest in China's Countryside, Jan 2006
Social Movements in Urban China, '06
The Dynamics of China's Social Crisis, '06
Georgia
President Mikheil Saakashvili
India
Sonya Gandhi
Indonesia
Scott
Allen
Iraq
Haifa Zangana, The
Guardian, UK
Singapore
George Yeo
Tibet
Roger Beaumont, The Nation, Thailand
Ukraine
Andrew Osborn,
The Independent
Vietnam
Adam Fforde, Australia
Venezuela (and the United Nations)
President Hugo Chavez
Further Readings
Adrian
Hamilton on American Discovery of Democracy, The Independent, UK,
'05
Base
Politics
Foreign Affairs, Nov-Dec 2005
How
Washington has consistently undermined its ostensible propagation of 'democracy'
by cutting deals with some of the world's most heinous regimes
Read
more.
The
Demons of an Open Society
LSE Public Lecture, October 2005
Professor Zygmunt Bauman
Read the
transcript.
Fetching water in bamboo "buckets"
Armed Conflict Zone of Kawthoolei
A
young Karen guerrilla fighter cleaning his AK-47 during an upstream
journey on River Salween, April 2003
Japan PM Shinzo Abe heads to Burma for economic talks - BBC News Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements - US Department of State (press release) A Hasty Rapprochement With Burma - U.S. News & World Report (blog) Burma's Lucky Bibliophile - The Irrawaddy News Magazine Best Western to open its first hotel in Burma - USA TODAY Burma's Kyat Currency Slumps As Imports Flood In - The Irrawaddy News Magazine Burma's Thein Sein Visits Washington - TIME Burmese president's visit gives glimmer of hope for change - Washington Post From cars to cola, US firms cross into Burma - USA TODAY NGOs Step up Pressure on Firms Bidding to Exploit Burma's Resources - The Irrawaddy News Magazine Thant Myint U's Article explaining the role of UN in Burma/Myanmar The Straits Times, (published 5 April 2008)
Statement to the European Parliament Committee on Development and Sub-Committee on Human Rights Delivered in abridged form on 2 April 2008 in Brussels, Thant Myint U
An overview of a troubled land NCRonline.org, By TERESA MALCOLM, 21 March 2008
Myanmar's past key to changing its future Reuters, by Gill Murdoch, 5 Mar 2008
Interview with Burma's Ma Thanegi, former personal assistant to Aung By Stanley Weiss, Guest Contributor, 2nd Mar 08
Dr Zarni's interview on the military junta's referendum and elections, Die Taz, German national newspaper, 20 Feb 2008
By Stanley A. Weiss, 8 Feb 2008
BBC World Service Program on Burma Click the above link to listen Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Aung Naing Oo, Derek Tonkin, Justin Wintle, Mike Green, Steve Solarz, Tin Htar Swe, and Zarni
Listen to A Comprehensive Look at the past
20-years: BBC World Service (Radio) "Burma Road to Crisis", a
23-minute English language program (broadcast 29 September 2007)
with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Dr
Last Days of Senior General Than Shwe, Burma's Deeply Reviled Brute
Burma/Myanmar and Tourism Question - Latest from "Condé Nast
Traveler" Susan Hack, Published January 2008
Myanmar's 'saffron revolution' brings little hope for change Dec 17, 2007, The Strait Times
4 Dec 2007
DESCRIPTION:
Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs
BBC World Service Instant Guide to Burma's Generals Click the above link to listen Duration, 8 minutes, broadcast, 16-19 Nov 2007
Contributors:
Text of Aung San Suu Kyi's statement
Suu Kyi Ready to Cooperate With Junta
Repression and Protest in Myanmar (Burma): What is to be done? 22 October 2007, Southeast Asia Forum
Watch 6 November international discussion on
Burma, at the National University of Singapore's NYU-NUS Global
Forum on Peace and Security. The international and Legal Implications of the Situation in Myanmar
Prof Trevor Wilson, Former Australian
Ambassador to Myanmar
Interview with Dr Zarni in Zagreb's
Revolution for Reconciliation?
"This is the time for reconciliation, cooler heads, dialogue and working together amongst all Burmese, soldiers and civilians."
Zarni
Zarni
Pacific Time:
The West and Burma
Kevin Doyle, Oct. 12, 2007, Time
Monks and
China Rising October 11, 2007
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Statement dated 5 October 2007 on Burma and UK's action plan
Burma-focused web-casts at the Security Council 5 October 2007
05 October 2007, the Financial Mail of SA, the Myanmar Ambassador
Speaks Boycotting Burma makes things worse 3 October 2007, The Times
Burma's Crisis: What Should Outsiders Do? Shorenstein APARC, SEAF Seminar Series, Stanford University
Statement by ASEAN Chair New York, 27 September 2007
Mission of Burma: Laura Bush Edition Kerry Howley, 6 September 2007, Reason
UN envoy urges Burma constitution talks Mark Turner at the United Nations and Amy Kazmin in Bangkok, 6 September 2007, Finicial Time
UN Special Envoy Ibraham Gambari's Press Conference on Myanma/Burma 5 September 2007, www.ung.org
HANNAH BEECH, 5 September 2007, Time
Thant Myint-U, 30 August 2007, Time
Where Protests Can Prolong Army Rule J. Sri Raman29 August 2007, www.truthour.org
Miles Kington: Repressive regimes thrive on international outcry 23 August 2007, The Independent
Jared Genser: Gordon Brown's strange silence on Burma 21 August 2007, The Independent
"Understanding Burma I: A Burmese Historian's View", 4 August 2007
The river of lost footsteps "A Typically Flawed View from the West", 2 August 2007
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Exploring the roots of conflict 29 July 2009, The Star, Malaysia
US sanctions policy on Myanmar has failed
P. Parameswaran, 25 July 2007
INDIA: Under fire for planned helicopter sale to Burma July 17 2007, ABC Radio Australia
Click the above link to listen
Click here to read the transcript.
July 16 2007, BBC World Service Interview
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL July 16 2007
Rangoon-Oxford-Bangkok link up June 19 2007, BBC Burmese
May 29th 2007
Myanmar, unusual threat to US? Maung Zarni, 26 May 2007, The Brunie Times
Myanmar: An "Unusual and Extraordinary Threat" to the US Maung Zarni, 24 May 2007
For Amnesty International's Press Release launching its 2007 Report click here: 23 May 2007
Does Burma need you? 19 May 2007, The Times
SANCTIONS REVISITED:
Burmese Opposition Radio in Oslo Wendy Gomersall, 6 May 2007, The Scotsman
The biggest travel taboo: a holiday in Burma Fiona Dunlop, 29 April 2007, The Observer
Books :A Burmese pilgrim's progress 29 April 2007, The Nation
Burma
and the Competence of the UN Security Council
Derek Tonkin, 8 March 2007, Asian Tribune
Worldstage: Freezing out the generals does not help the Burmese Nick Wood, 7 March 2007, Telegraph
Myanmar's neighbors hold the keyStanley A. Weiss, 7 March 2007, International Herald Tribune
Reframing the ‘Burma question’ Thant Myint-U, February 2007, HIMĀL SOUTHASIAN
Thant Myint-U, London Review of Books Vol. 29 No. 3 dated 8 February 2007 Historian Thant Myint-U is a former U.N. official and a native of Burma. His new book, The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma - part memoir, part history - explores the problems plaguing the country.
Myanmar 'falls outside council's mandate' 04 February 2007 11:59
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"The process of change in Myanmar is going to
be long, painful and evolutionary. There simply isn't a silver
bullet." "I honestly don't have any hope in the UN's intervention." Aung Naing Oo, Chiang Mai, Thailand
"The last thing the regime would want to do is appear to be appeasing the international community, be it the Chinese or the Americans." Zarni, UK List of Burmese Monasteries Raided by the Myanmarese Junta Since 6 October
The Karaniya Metta
Sutta
"Isolation is the regime's default condition.
It is what fuels the present system. Burma might not become a
democracy overnight, but it Thant Myint-U, author of "River of Lost Foot Steps", on the boycott of Burma/Myanmar
"(Aung San) Suu Kyi had come a long way to realize that democracy can only be done through the generals, with the latter still in the driving seat. This realization of hers is in stark contrast to the imperious, principled and unbending Suu Kyi I had met over twenty meetings ago." Former UN Special Envoy Razali Ismail, April 2007 Read
more.
SELECT MEDIA INTERVIEWS Weekend Edition - Sunday, June 19, 2005
What
effect are international sanctions having on Myanmar? In an effort
to push the military regime in the former Burma toward democracy,
many countries have restricted trade. But Amnesty International
says the regime is tightening its crackdown on dissent.
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