Towards an open society in Burma/Myanmar through interactions and integration
About the Free Burma Coalition
FBC
Activists Launching Pepsi Boycott, Chapel Hills, NC, USA, October 1995
No more "Free Burma" Boycotts
The
FBC was founded at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1995 as a
Burmese-led political initiative to support Burmese people's aspirations
and struggle for democracy and human rights through boycotts, pro-sanctions
advocacy and Burma awareness promotion. For nearly one decade, we organized
and successfully spearheaded the anti-apartheid- style pro-sanctions campaigns.
But after having reviewed the effectiveness of our pro-sanctions campaigns
against the objective of building an open society back home, we have categorically
reversed our pro-isolation advocacy.
We
now support efforts to interact and engage with the country - that is,
the 'evil' junta, business sector and the society at large. We encourage
travel and tourism, educational and cultural exchange, development activities
aimed to support people's livelihoods, institutional and capacity building,
and humanitarian assistance.
"Free Burma Coalition supports fully tourism and travel to Myanmar
(Burma) as part of its support for the emergence of an open
society."
Want to visit Myanmar (Burma)? Consult with the Voices for Burma, ethical tourism promotion group.
Useful Links About Burma
Visit
F
Different Approaches Toward Change
Sampling
"Democratic Intolerance"
Savvy
Salt of the Earth, not Cowed
Burma
as S. Africa: A Wrong Comparison
Lessons
from Our Own Past
The Closing of "the Burmese Mind"
Want
to change Burma?
Milk
Powder Revolutionaries
Your
Homework?:
Background Readings on Burma/Myanmar
The
Burmese Conflict in a Nutshell: Burma/Myanmar 101
Click here to read
the backgrounder.
A
Short Guide to Myanmar and the International Community: Derek Tonkin,
Former British Ambassador, 4 January 2006
An EU Strategy for Burma/Myanmar- Harn Y.
An
Integrated Approach to National and Human Security in Burma/Myanmar
Zarni, Institute of Education, London, '05
Leaving Home: Amnesty International Report
7 September 2005
"Common
Problems,
Shared Responsibilities": FBC Report
14
September 2004
FBC
Report (Executive Summary)
Essays
on
Social Change: Learning from Others
Development
and Democracy
Foreign Affairs, Sept/Oct '05
China
Unrest in China's Countryside, Jan 2006
Social Movements in Urban China, '06
The Dynamics of China's Social Crisis, '06
Georgia
President Mikheil Saakashvili
India
Sonya Gandhi
Indonesia
Scott
Allen
Iraq
Haifa Zangana, The
Guardian, UK
Singapore
George Yeo
Tibet
Roger Beaumont, The Nation, Thailand
Ukraine
Andrew Osborn,
The Independent
Vietnam
Adam Fforde, Australia
Venezuela (and the United Nations)
President Hugo Chavez
Think
Global :
Further Readings
Robert
Fisk on End of the Year Review, Dec 2005
Adrian
Hamilton on American Discovery of Democracy, The Independent, UK,
'05
Base
Politics
Foreign Affairs, Nov-Dec 2005
How
Washington has consistently undermined its ostensible propagation of 'democracy'
by cutting deals with some of the world's most heinous regimes
Read
more.
The
Demons of an Open Society
LSE Public Lecture, October 2005
Professor Zygmunt Bauman
Read the
transcript.
An
old Karen Lady in traditional attire:
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Contact us at info@freeburmacoalition.org
Updates: Burma/Myanmar and Relevant Items Will there be a post-conflict Burma? Zarni, Opinion-Asia, 10 July 2008
The New Republic, Joshua Kurlantzick, 9 July 2008
Paul Collier, Washingtonpost, 22 June 2008
BBC Interview "How SG Ban Ki-Moon secured SG Than Shwe's promise of letting 'all' aid workers in" Click the above link to listen BBC Radio Five Live, 24 May 2008 Click here to read the transcript.
Pulling No Punches, Interview with Dr Zarni Irrawaddy, Thursday, May 22, 2008
Activist slams China, India over cyclone aid CNN Europe, 15 May 2008
Junta Hushes Up Extent of Tragedy: Welcome to the Burmese Police State SPIEGEL ONLINE, 05/15/2008
Facing up to our responsibilities Gareth Evans, The Guardian, UK, 12 May
A test of the UN's moral authority Rosemary Righter, The Times, 12 May 2008
Silence from our sabre rattlers as Burma's dying cry out to be saved Simon Jenkins, The Sunday Times, May 11, 2008
Bunker mentality blocks aid into Burma Amy Kazmin in Bangkok, FT
The case for invading Myanmar
Burma's Neroes fiddle while the people die Zarni, 10 May 2008
All Burmas's nightmares have come true Pascal Khoo-Thwe, 10 May 2008
The rulers'hesitation in allowing in badly needed foreign aid may be
a sign of Mark Magnier, The Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2008
Seth Mydans, 7 May 2008
Waves of suffering wash over my land The Independent, 7 May 2008
BURMA/MYANMAR: CYCLONE
NARGIS APPEALS OpinionAsia, 6 May 2008
The Situation Report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Thant Myint U's Article explaining the role of UN in Burma/Myanmar The Straits Times, (published 5 April 2008)
Statement to the European Parliament Committee on Development and Sub-Committee on Human Rights Delivered in abridged form on 2 April 2008 in Brussels, Thant Myint U
An overview of a troubled land NCRonline.org, By TERESA MALCOLM, 21 March 2008
Myanmar's past key to changing its future Reuters, by Gill Murdoch, 5 Mar 2008
Interview with Burma's Ma Thanegi, former personal assistant to Aung By Stanley Weiss, Guest Contributor, 2nd Mar 08
Dr Zarni's interview on the military junta's referendum and elections, Die Taz, German national newspaper, 20 Feb 2008
By Stanley A. Weiss, 8 Feb 2008
BBC World Service Program on Burma Click the above link to listen Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Aung Naing Oo, Derek Tonkin, Justin Wintle, Mike Green, Steve Solarz, Tin Htar Swe, and Zarni
Listen to A Comprehensive Look at the past
20-years: BBC World Service (Radio) "Burma Road to Crisis", a
23-minute English language program (broadcast 29 September 2007)
with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Dr
Last Days of Senior General Than Shwe, Burma's Deeply Reviled Brute
Burma/Myanmar and Tourism Question - Latest from "Condé Nast
Traveler" Susan Hack, Published January 2008
Myanmar's 'saffron revolution' brings little hope for change Dec 17, 2007, The Strait Times
4 Dec 2007
DESCRIPTION:
Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs
BBC World Service Instant Guide to Burma's Generals Click the above link to listen Duration, 8 minutes, broadcast, 16-19 Nov 2007
Contributors:
Text of Aung San Suu Kyi's statement
Suu Kyi Ready to Cooperate With Junta
Repression and Protest in Myanmar (Burma): What is to be done? 22 October 2007, Southeast Asia Forum
Watch 6 November international discussion on
Burma, at the National University of Singapore's NYU-NUS Global
Forum on Peace and Security. The international and Legal Implications of the Situation in Myanmar
Prof Trevor Wilson, Former Australian
Ambassador to Myanmar
Interview with Dr Zarni in Zagreb's
Revolution for Reconciliation?
"This is the time for reconciliation, cooler heads, dialogue and working together amongst all Burmese, soldiers and civilians."
Zarni
Zarni
Pacific Time:
The West and Burma
Kevin Doyle, Oct. 12, 2007, Time
Monks and
China Rising October 11, 2007
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Statement dated 5 October 2007 on Burma and UK's action plan
Burma-focused web-casts at the Security Council 5 October 2007
05 October 2007, the Financial Mail of SA, the Myanmar Ambassador
Speaks Boycotting Burma makes things worse 3 October 2007, The Times
Burma's Crisis: What Should Outsiders Do? Shorenstein APARC, SEAF Seminar Series, Stanford University
Statement by ASEAN Chair New York, 27 September 2007
Mission of Burma: Laura Bush Edition Kerry Howley, 6 September 2007, Reason
UN envoy urges Burma constitution talks Mark Turner at the United Nations and Amy Kazmin in Bangkok, 6 September 2007, Finicial Time
UN Special Envoy Ibraham Gambari's Press Conference on Myanma/Burma 5 September 2007, www.ung.org
HANNAH BEECH, 5 September 2007, Time
Thant Myint-U, 30 August 2007, Time
Where Protests Can Prolong Army Rule J. Sri Raman29 August 2007, www.truthour.org
Miles Kington: Repressive regimes thrive on international outcry 23 August 2007, The Independent
Jared Genser: Gordon Brown's strange silence on Burma 21 August 2007, The Independent
"Understanding Burma I: A Burmese Historian's View", 4 August 2007
The river of lost footsteps "A Typically Flawed View from the West", 2 August 2007
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Exploring the roots of conflict 29 July 2009, The Star, Malaysia
US sanctions policy on Myanmar has failed
P. Parameswaran, 25 July 2007
INDIA: Under fire for planned helicopter sale to Burma July 17 2007, ABC Radio Australia
Click the above link to listen
Click here to read the transcript.
July 16 2007, BBC World Service Interview
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL July 16 2007
Rangoon-Oxford-Bangkok link up June 19 2007, BBC Burmese
May 29th 2007
Myanmar, unusual threat to US? Maung Zarni, 26 May 2007, The Brunie Times
Myanmar: An "Unusual and Extraordinary Threat" to the US Maung Zarni, 24 May 2007
For Amnesty International's Press Release launching its 2007 Report click here: 23 May 2007
Does Burma need you? 19 May 2007, The Times
SANCTIONS REVISITED:
Burmese Opposition Radio in Oslo Wendy Gomersall, 6 May 2007, The Scotsman
The biggest travel taboo: a holiday in Burma Fiona Dunlop, 29 April 2007, The Observer
Books :A Burmese pilgrim's progress 29 April 2007, The Nation
Burma
and the Competence of the UN Security Council
Worldstage: Freezing out the generals does not help the Burmese Nick Wood, 7 March 2007, Telegraph
Myanmar's neighbors hold the keyStanley A. Weiss, 7 March 2007, International Herald Tribune
Reframing the ‘Burma question’ Thant Myint-U, February 2007, HIMĀL SOUTHASIAN
Thant Myint-U, London Review of Books Vol. 29 No. 3 dated 8 February 2007 Historian Thant Myint-U is a former U.N. official and a native of Burma. His new book, The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma - part memoir, part history - explores the problems plaguing the country.
Myanmar 'falls outside council's mandate' 04 February 2007 11:59
BBC Burmese Debate on the predictable failure US-UK campaign at the UN Security Council Click the above link to listen. U Kyaw Zan Tha, U Win Naing, Dr Than Naing & Dr Zarni, 24 January 2007, BBC Burmese Evening Programme
Simon Tisdall, 17 January 2007, The Guardian
Lessons from Myanmar's Failed Revolution Zarni, 16 January 2007, OpinionAsia
World: Histories of Burma, US National Public Radio Fresh Air from WHYY, 16 January 2007
Zarni, 2 December 2006, Mizzima News Group About 3 weeks ago, Deputy Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari, A Nigerian, came to Myanmar for the second time and went back to UN Headquarters, well, empty-handed. He didn't get anything from his meetings with not only Senior General Than Shwe but also Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Time for Rethinking Social Change in Myanmar/Burma By Dr. Zarni, 19 September 2006 It's time for a new way of thinking about social change in Myanmar/Burma and for a review of the current punishment-based international policies directed towards our country. Burma Special: Why we must talk to the generals Maung Zarni, 14 August 2006, New Statesman Focusing on Aung San Suu Kyi may not be the best way to bring democracy to Burma, argues Maung Zarni. Real change, he says, will require the co-operation of those now in power.
Should
Tourists go to Burma? To
Go or Not To Go: NLD
Statement on the Call for UNSC Action Impoverishment
as 'Freedom': Western
sanctions and isolation only stymie the emergence of a vibrant civil
society, 4 Jan '06
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