While most of Asia s major cities are increasingly homogenized by rapid economic growth and cultural globalization, Rangoon, which is Burma s former capital and largest city, still bears the imprint of a unique and often turbulent history. It is the site of the Shwedagon Pagoda, a focus of Buddhist pilgrimage and devotion since the early second millennium C.E. that continues to play a major role in national life. In 1852, the British occupied Rangoon and made it their colonial capital, building a modern port and administrative center based on western designs. It became the capital of...

Burma (Myanmar) is a Southeast Asian country that is emerging from crisis after more than a half century of hard-line military rule and cultural, diplomatic and economic isolation. With the dissolution of its military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, in 2011, a formally civilian but military-dominated constitutional government was inaugurated. By 2012, Burma s president, retired General Thein Sein, had established a working relationship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country s pro-democracy movement since 1988, and after a 2012 by-election she and members of her...