Seeking to look beyond the day-to-day headlines and judgemental comments on developments in Myanmar, this volume gets under the surface to look at the underlying issues which the country faces regardless of its political future. After looking back to essay the historical forces and human agencies which have shaped contemporary Myanmar, the volume addresses health care and public policy provision with suggestions as to what potential roles the international community might have in assisting Myanmar's future socioeconomic development. Myanmar: Beyond Politics to Societal Imperatives broadens...

The central focus of the book is the state's efforts to industrialize Myanmar, first through direct intervention and planning under a socialist economic framework as interpreted by the state leaders (1948-88) and lately (1989 onwards) through state-managed outward orientation. In examining developments during the 1948-88 period, this study situates the Myanmar case within the developmental state paradigm, whereby a critique of the investment-driven-pathway of Myanmar's political economy under socialist ethos is provided. On the other hand, in examining the post-1988 period, the focus is on...

Since its inception in 1974, Southeast Asian Affairs (SEAA) has been an indispensable annual reference for generations of policy-makers, scholars, analysts, journalists, and others. Succinctly written by regional and international experts, SEAA illuminates significant issues and events of the previous year in each of the Southeast Asian nations and the region as a whole. Southeast Asian Affairs 2008 provides an informed and readable analysis of the events and developments in the region in 2007. In the regional section, the first two articles provide the political and economic overview of...