The Hidden History of Burma: Race Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century

About this book

A Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2020 How did one of the worlds "buzzy hotspots" (Fodors 2013) become one of the top ten places to avoid (Fodors 2018)? Precariously positioned between China and India Burmas population has suffered dictatorship natural disaster and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from long years of house arrest hopes soared. World leaders such as Barack Obama ushered in waves of international support. Progress seemed inevitable. As historian former diplomat and presidential advisor Thant Myint-U saw the cracks forming. In this insiders diagnosis of a country at a breaking point he dissects how a singularly predatory economic system fast-rising inequality disintegrating state institutions the impact of new social media the rise of China next door climate change and deep-seated feelings around race religion and national identity all came together to challenge the incipient democracy. Interracial violence soared and a horrific exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fixed international attention. Myint-U explains how and why this happened and details an unsettling prognosis for the future. Burma is today a fragile stage for nearly all the worlds problems. Are democracy and an economy that genuinely serves all its people possible in Burma? In clear and urgent prose Myint-U explores this questiona concern not just for the Burmese but for the rest of the worldwarning of the possible collapse of this nation of 55 million while suggesting a fresh agenda for change.