Over the Borderline
Insight Myanmar10 Kesä 2025

Over the Borderline

Episode #353: Professor Lahra Smith, a political science professor specializing in East Africa at Georgetown University, argues that Myanmar’s current struggles must be seen within a global framework of colonial legacies, using Sudan as a comparative case. While acknowledging contextual differences, Smith shows how both countries were shaped by British colonial rule that hardened ethnic divisions, created infrastructure disparities, and entrenched political inequalities.

Sudan lies within Africa’s so-called "coup belt," illustrating a broader dissatisfaction with post-colonial governance and foreign interference. Like Myanmar, Sudan has suffered from military coups that initially promised reform but quickly descended into new forms of repression. Smith discusses how colonial policies divided Sudanese society along racial and religious lines, just as British colonialism in Myanmar entrenched ethnic and religious hierarchies that still drive conflict today.

Colonialism’s infrastructural and missionary legacies further marginalized Sudan’s peripheries, fostering grievances that exploded into civil wars and the eventual, troubled independence of South Sudan. Similarly, Myanmar’s marginalized ethnic regions remain flashpoints for conflict. Smith stresses the need to move beyond thinking in terms of static land borders and recognize the deeper regional and cultural continuities that colonial boundaries disrupted.

Ultimately, Smith emphasizes that identities and nations are constantly evolving, and that just drawing new lines on maps to replace the old, artificial, colonial ones will not solve the problems caused by the colonial experience. She stresses that genuine understanding requires recognizing this fluidity.

Jaksot(507)

Sitagu Sayadaw, The Coup, and Burmese Buddhism

Sitagu Sayadaw, The Coup, and Burmese Buddhism

“My own feelings would be that it would be good for Sitagu Sayadaw to leave the country and then speak out [against the military]. If he speaks out now, he would probably be arrested immediately.”Thus...

16 Tammi 20222h 28min

The Fabric of Change: Feminism, Art, and Revolution

The Fabric of Change: Feminism, Art, and Revolution

When Chuu Wai Nyein was just eighteen years old, she was with her sister at a Mandalay teashop. As they were leaving, a man sexually assaulted her sister. The event deeply traumatized them, and Chuu w...

11 Tammi 20221h 32min

Artists Against Tyranny, Part 2

Artists Against Tyranny, Part 2

The situation in Myanmar continues to be intolerable. Day by day innocent civilians are being killed, maimed, starved, and forced from their homes, and the military continues their campaign of terror....

4 Tammi 20221h 49min

The Revolution's Roving Eye

The Revolution's Roving Eye

Moe, a photojournalist, has long chronicled the inhumane injustices that the Tatmadaw had committed in his country. From the jade mines of Kachin to the Rohingya camps in Rakhine, he had seen first-ha...

26 Joulu 20211h 40min

Artists Against Tyranny

Artists Against Tyranny

As many already know, the situation in Myanmar continues to be intolerable. Day by day innocent civilians are being killed, maimed, starved, and forced from their homes, and the military continues the...

10 Joulu 20212h

The Story of Magway

The Story of Magway

“It's really sad that our young people had dreams, but after the military coup, every dream of theirs has been destroyed.” So starts the interview with May, who tells us why she became a revolutionary...

29 Marras 20211h 50min

Bart Was Not Here

Bart Was Not Here

Imagine a conversation that ranges from The Life of Brian to the modern Burmese Sangha, from The Godfather to trashy Burmese style romance movies, from Eminem to Ashin Wirathu… and lots more in betwee...

23 Marras 20212h 19min

Dave Leduc: A champion stands with the people

Dave Leduc: A champion stands with the people

Dave LeDuc loves all things Myanmar. But maybe more than anything, Dave loves stepping into a fighting pit without gloves or shoes, and giving well-placed head butts that knock an opponent cold! Dave ...

15 Marras 20211h 52min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
tervo-halme
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
viisupodi
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
the-ulkopolitist
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
radio-antro
rss-kiina-ilmiot
rss-kovin-paikka
rss-polikulaari-pitka-kiekko-ja-muut-ts-podcastit
rss-vain-talouselamaa