Category: Opinion
The latest opinion from those committed to making our region fair, just and democratic.
Experts in Myanmar Affairs: Usurping Local Voices and Doing Harm
FORSEA is hosting an all-Burmese dialogue – in Burmese and English languages – with critical intellectuals and activists whose knowledge is grounded in their grassroots experiences. The speakers are acutely aware of the fact that as the wretched of Myanmar, they are fighting wars on multiple fronts – against the neo-imperialist thought, space and system where local knowledge is typically relegated to second class.
“I Was Not Used by the Military”: Myanmar Dictator Ne Win’s Most Influential Educational Reformer Dr Nyi Nyi
I am writing these words not so much as an obituary of a public figure who helped lay the educational foundation for Burma’s military-controlled politico-economic system but as a tale which offers some invaluable lessons for the western-educated elite, who self-perceive themselves as advisers, policy actors and power brokers in the government of the day.
Neither the United States nor the Rest of the West Walk their Talk of Democracy or Human Rights
Maung Zarni argues that neither the United States nor the rest of the west walk their talk of democracy or human rights, unless doing so suits their agenda (s), and they might not be the reliable allies in the freedom struggles, offering his own native Myanmar as an Exhibit A of the textbook hypocrisy of these liberal democratic regimes.
A Myanmar’s Military That Burns Civilians Alive Ought to be Designated as Terrorist
While governments and human rights organizations were occupied with the farce of the coup junta’s trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and the expected guilty verdict on 6 December 2021, the junta’s back-to-back acts of terrorism have not been reported in the ways they deserve and nor have they received worldwide scrutiny and condemnation.
After Afghanistan, how credible is Joe Biden’s talk of support for democracy and opposition against authoritarianism around the world?
Myanmar under the coup regime has been in a Zero Sum popular armed revolution, yet the Biden White House has offered Myanmar's human rights defenders and pro-democracy revolution nothing more than empty statements. This is discussed on the next FORSEA Dialogue on Democratic Struggles in Asia.
The Historic Significance of the Farmers’ Struggles in India
Ten days ago, Prime Minister Modi was forced to repeal all the pro-corporate agricultural laws, signalling the regime's defeat at the hands of a determined, well-organized and uncompromising farmers' movement. This FORSEA Dialogue on our YouTube channel is dedicated to this historic and historically significant victory by the Indian farmers.
From Auschwitz to Myanmar
FORSEA Co-founder Dr Maung Zarni shared his thoughts on the recurring genocides around the world, despite the Genocide Convention of 1948 and the Security Council, tasked to maintain peace in the world, 26 November 2021.
Merdeka, Melayu and Muhibbah: Contradictions of Malay(sian) Nationalisms
Without a political or social revolution to rewrite our founding myths and foundational race narratives, the only conceivable path forward at this moment is a combination of creed and crucible — a multiethnic harmony that is underpinned by constitutional protections.
Why Have Myanmar Activists Begun Talking, Approvingly, about Balkanizing Their Country?
I want to spell out clearly my stance on this taboo subject: I see the Balkanization of Myanmar as the only viable end to what the overwhelming majority of Burmese public, including religious and ethnic minorities, experience as a home-grown Fascist occupier.
“Silent Voices”? The Subaltern Can Speak & Have Always Spoken
If activists are unwilling to be better allies to marginalised groups, they risk becoming complicit in silencing them.