Myanmar in ASEAN: Regional Cooperation Experience

1. Introduction: Southeast Asia, Myanmar and ASEAN

MYANMAR IN ASEAN 1 1 Introduction: Southeast Asia, Myanmar and ASEAN 1.1 WHAT IS SOUTHEAST ASIA? Before the Second World War, historians and geographers, especially Western academics, divided Asia into two — the Near East and the Far East. Present-day Southeast Asia was included in the Far East. However, the term “Southeast Asia” was occasionally used by European, especially German writers, in the late 19th century. According to McCloud (1992), “it was first brought to general prominence with the establishment of a Southeast Asia military command by the British during World War II — one of the first attempts to bring together the previously fragmented colonial perspectives of the British, Dutch, French andAmericans” (p. 12).Actually, the SoutheastAsia Command (SEAC) was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill at the First Quebec Conference in August, 1943 (Fifield 1992). Ironically, the SEAC was located in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), which is a part of South Asia. In other words, SoutheastAsia as a regional political unit was first recognized during the Second World War. Milton Osborne, a noted historian of Southeast Asia, agrees: For the most part, however, neither the foreigners who worked in Southeast Asia before the Second World War, whether as scholars or otherwise, nor the indigenous inhabitants of the countries of SoutheastAsia, thought about the region in general terms. The general tendency to do so came with the Second World War when, as a result of military circumstances, the concept of a Southeast Asian region began to take hold (1983, p. 12). Generally, Burma (now Myanmar),1 Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia (including present-day Brunei and Singapore) and Indonesia, were considered as some kind of geographical unit. However, the Philippines was not 01 Myanmar Ch 1 16/12/04, 3:35 PM 1 2 INTRODUCTION: SOUTHEAST ASIA, MYANMAR AND ASEAN included. Osborne noted that while the omission of the Philippines was deliberate at the time of the Second World War, the question of whether the Philippines formed part of Southeast Asia was to remain a matter of scholarly uncertainty as late as the 1960s. Presently, Southeast Asia denotes ten nation–states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore andVietnam. One unique characteristic of the region is the historical influence of India and China upon its cultures, especially in religion, art and politics. However, each country has its individual style. For example, Islam predominates in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and in southern Philippines. Buddhism is the main religion of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Vietnam’s Buddhism is more of the northern Buddhism (Mahayana) similar to that of China, Korea and Japan, whereas the rest of the region practices Theravada Buddhism. Another important characteristic is the linguistic unity cutting across the boundaries established by colonial powers. For example, the Indonesian/Malay language is spoken throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Philippines, as well as in some settlements along the southern coastal regions of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, although there are different dialects from region to region. Another example is the Tai language which is spoken in Thailand, Shan State in Myanmar, and Laos, again with some variations. In other words, there are unities and diversities in the region. Southeast Asia is a region of many contrasts. Take geography: there are the snow-covered mountains of northern Burma and Papua and at the other extreme, the desert-like Dry Zone of middle Myanmar.Also, one can find a conglomerate of geographical and agricultural contrasts in the region — from the rolling pastoral grasslands of northwestern Vietnam to the steep terraced rice fields of the Philippines islands. Apart from the various determinants of regional identity mentioned above, perhaps some credit should be given to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) itself, in developing a sense of the region — the essence of the “one Southeast Asia” concept. After all, the role of regionalism in “imagining” Southeast Asia as a region is crucial.2 1.2 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS: A BRIEF OVERVIEW ASEAN’s member economies vary widely in size, population and income, as summarized in Table 1.1 for the year 2001. ASEAN has a total population of about 530 million and land area of 4,495 thousand sq. km. Among the ASEAN member countries, Indonesia is the largest, with more than 214 million people and land area of 1,919 million sq. km. Singapore is the smallest country with 4.1 million people 01 Myanmar Ch 1 16/12/04, 3:35...