Myanmar’s Contested Borderlands: Uneven Development and Ongoing Armed Conflict

Main author: Lertchavalitsakul, Busarin
Other authors: Meehan, Patrick
Format: Book Chapters           
Online access: Click here to view record


Summary: Attempts to assert control over the country’s borderlands have been a central dynamic of the statebuilding agendas of successive governments in Myanmar, albeit a deeply conflictual one in light of the fact that the power and legitimacy of the state has been historically weak and contested throughout much of the country. This chapter explores the unresolved issues surrounding the distribution of power between centre and borderlands that have shaped the mentalities of both the central government and border-based opposition groups since Myanmar’s independence, and the diverse patterns of cross-border interactions that connect Myanmar’s borderlands to the wider region.
Other authors: Meehan, Patrick
Language: English
Published: Routledge 2020