A Delicate Relationship : The United States and Burma/Myanmar since 1945 / Kenton Clymer
Imprint
Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2015
Descript
xiii, 409 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
SUMMARY
"In 2012, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president ever to visit Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. This official state visit marked a new period in the long and sinuous diplomatic relationship between the United States and Burma/Myanmar, which Kenton Clymer examines in A Delicate Relationship. From the challenges of decolonization and heightened nationalist activities that emerged in the wake of World War II to the Cold War concern with domino states to the rise of human rights policy in the 1980s and beyond, Clymer demonstrates how Burma/Myanmar has fit into the broad patterns of U.S. foreign policy and yet has never been fully integrated into diplomatic efforts in the region of Southeast Asia"-- Publisher's Web site
CONTENT
Burmese nationalism and the path to independence -- The leaky derelict -- The trial of the "Burma Surgeony" -- The kuomintang embarrassment -- China, communists, and other insurgents -- Changing course on the kuomintang -- The neutrality conundrum -- The China border, a "polite coup", and return to democratic government -- The U Nu interregnum -- Ne win's way to socialism -- The relationship stabilizes -- The narcotics era -- Revolt -- The thaw