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Maung Zarni, a research fellow at the London School of Economics, argues that the best way to look at the current changes in Myanmar is through his “Three Insecurity Paradigms”, namely, national security, global security and human security. Zarni denounces the Thein Sein reforms as crude responses to the regime’s own needs and to the expectation of the world, with little account for the security of ordinary Myanmar people. […]

Sean Turnell and Wylie Bradford of the Macquarie University, Australia, look at the agricultural sector in Myanmar, the source of income of the majority of Myanmar people, and plot the important role it will play in enabling the country’s economic renaissance. They propose a set of recommendations on how to promote and sustain this sector, bearing in mind the potential of Myanmar in the world’s agricultural markets. […]

Yoshihiro Nakanishi of Kyoto University profiles Thein Sein, delving deep into his leadership and poses the question, “is democratization truly taking place with him at the helm?” His answer is more startling than his question. He believes that the plans of reform were well laid by the previous generation of military elites; thus they themselves are automatically entrenched in the new power structure. […]