Insight Myanmar25 Jul 2023

Locked and Loaded

Episode #178: Step into the hidden world of Burmese small arms, where intrigue, danger, and geopolitical secrets intertwine. Miles Vining, a former US Marine and member of the Free Burma Rangers, recounts how his obsession with digital weapons in video games led him to start documenting real-life firearms in Myanmar.

Miles discovered a vast array of small arms sourced from unlikely corners of the globe. He describes the refurbishment and resourcefulness that keeps Burmese weaponry operational long after it was decommissioned elsewhere, as well as the intricate web of foreign influences and local production that shape the small arms landscape, and his work in unmasking the deeper political alliances they represent.

But Burmese small arms are not merely tools of war; they symbolize a nation's struggle for freedom, too. Miles describes the blurred lines between suppliers and fighters, along with corrupt commanders secretly supporting those they oppose.

“Diving into small arms research in Burma, you can go down some of the most amazing and fantastic rabbit holes and relationships and geopolitics and then who double crossed who and backtrack to where things are getting made and what secret deals were going on,” he says. “The whole shebang is there! But it's untouched, and nobody's interested in it, because it's the dark hole that Burma is, so it’s no surprise there. It's like the world doesn't care about Burma yet again!”

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(592)

A Border Runs Through It

Episode #577: Thomas Shapwon, a Naga elder and former politician, recounts the long struggle of the Naga people for sovereignty and survival between India and Myanmar. He describes the Naga as an anci...

24 Jul 0s

The Hidden Flock

Episode #576: “I have been attempted [at assassinations] twice when they shot me, but I escaped. My family, my brother, they are targeted, and armed groups are always behind us. They kill in a second....

23 Jul 0s

Terms of Extraction

Episode #575: Lindsey Kennedy, an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker focused on organized crime, corruption, and conflict, argues that the scam-compound economy across Cambodia, Myanma...

21 Jul 0s

Unscripted Awakening

Episode #574: Diego Prieto, a Chilean filmmaker, embarked on a journey to explore the Buddha's legacy and its modern relevance. His documentary started as an effort to explain the core teachings of Bu...

20 Jul 1h 6min

Behind the Firewall

Episode #573: “I brought you here to the United States not so you could forget our homeland,” Salih Hudayar remembers his father telling him, “but so you could become educated and one day return to li...

17 Jul 3h 21min

Let Them Eat Cake

Episode #572: “The government will survive for as long as it can feed the people,” says Christopher Lamb, former Australian Ambassador to Myanmar, distilling what he believes defines the country’s pol...

16 Jul 1h 54min

Class Dismissed

Episode #571: “For students living through uncertainty, I think online learning and online education becomes a lifeline rather than simply an alternative.” Eaint Thet Hmu, a Philosophy, Politics, and ...

14 Jul 1h 25min

Sacred Grounds Contested

Episode #570: The AAS Conference in Vancouver brought together thousands of scholars and practitioners from around the world, creating a dense, fast-moving environment of panels, conversations, and in...

13 Jul 57min