Burma's Reforms Through the Generals' Eyes---No Nonsense Conversation with Maung Zarni

Maung Zarni (left), Burmese academic and activist, is interviewed by veteran journalist Veronica Pedrosa (right), at the FCCT in Bangkok.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. November 2, 2012. These are exciting and important times for change in Burma. This month, in a first ever for a US president, President Obama will pay a visit to Burma in recognition of Burma's progress toward democracy and the central geographical and strategic importance of Burma, which lies between China and India. Maung Zarni, a native Burman, has been educated in Burma, the US and the UK, and is both an academic and an activist in trying to democratize Burma. While he acknowledges that progress has been real, he is skeptical of the military's commitment to democratic reform, an important consideration because everyone acknowledges that the military still controls the country. Maung believes that the military is both rational and irrational, and that the relationship between the military and the civilian government is evolving, and that no one knows how it will work out.