Burma expert Dr Sean Turnell has been invited to address the United States Institute for Peace (USIP)*, a body of the US Congress created to 'promote peaceful resolution to international conflicts', in Washington DC on 27 September 2006.
He will be responding to the question of how a monetary and financial system can be constructed in a post - democratic Burma - part of an overall question regarding the necessary institutions for democratic transition.
"This invitation comes at a critical time, and has been prompted by my July address at the Bureau of National Intelligence and Research on the general underperformance of Burma's economy under Burma's military leadership. This in turn resulted from my Senate appearance# in March, plus the work of myself and my colleagues in our journal, 'Burma Economic Watch', which has emerged as the world's most influential economic publication on Burma. Another Macquarie University first," Turnell explained.
" Although the US has easily the most comprehensive sanctions on Burma's ruling military regime there is always pressure to relax these - particularly from oil and gas firms who are eager to get at Burma's fairly large reserves of natural gas. My major point, as always, is that Burma's economic problems extend from the country's lack of the fundamental institutions that history tells us are necessary for economic development. These include secure property rights, and at the very least a degree of government accountability (if not complete application of the rule of law). All other policies are trivial in the absence of these. Of course, there is the implication here that the irrational totalitarianism of Burma's military regime (the self-styled 'State Peace and Development Council') is the central problem."
What Turnell hopes for is simply that the statement of the truth, to people and institutions with the power to influence events, is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition to bring about change in Burma. "The US already has the world's best policy on Burma - I am always anxious to encourage it on its moral course." He added that the USIP has been all over the news lately because the 'Iraq Study Group' of eminent persons , a USIP initiative headed by former Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff, James A. Baker, has reported its findings. " The work being done by the "Building Democracy in Burma " group is identical in its objectives to this advisory body on Iraq, so we're seizing the moment to keep Burma firmly on the agenda."
*The USIP is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by the US Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and democratic transformations, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by its direct involvement in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.
#In March 2006, Sean Turnell was invited to testify on Burma before the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs. This testimony is available at http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2006/hrg060329p.html. The week after Turnell's appearance the Committee undertook hearings on Iraq, Islamist extremism in Europe, US-India atomic energy co-operation, and counterterrorism priorities.
Contact: Skaidy Gulbis
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