Myanmar: Awaiting Change
Myanmar is experiencing a transition from military to semi-civilian rule. Its new government has released hundreds of political prisoners and relaxed controls on political association, civil society and the press. But for most of Myanmar’s people, who are among the poorest in Asia, reform has yet to improve basic services such as healthcare.
Myanmar: A New Layout
For decades, a clique of generals cast themselves as Myanmar’s guardians, and treated any who questioned their policies as enemies of the state. Veteran journalist Maung Wuntha, founder of The People’s Age, a political weekly journal, was repeatedly jailed for airing grievances against the ruling junta. Today, after a sweeping series of democratic reforms, he...
Burma: Democracy on the Edge
For decades Burma’s people have been caught in the iron grip of a military dictatorship that stamped out any whiff of dissent and sealed off the country from outside scrutiny. Today, as the country experiences a dramatic, if still qualified, democratic opening, figures previously deemed subversive are now finding a protected place in the public...
Mekong: Rising Tide
Hydropower dams slated for the Mekong pit electricity rewards against the river's tremendous but vulnerable ecosystem, leaving the mighty river's fate in question.
In Laos, A Tale of Two Dams
The Nam Theun 2 dam has gotten high marks for how its social and environmental impact was managed. The story of the Xayaburi dam, however, appears to be following a different course – one that critics say could accelerate the deterioration of one of the world’s most productive rivers.