Comments for Pyinnya.com http://www.pyinnya.com an educational clearinghouse for Burmese knowledge seekers Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:56:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 Comment on Democracy as a Universal Value - Amartya Sen on Bogus ‘Asian’ Values, 1993 by barmak http://www.pyinnya.com/?p=398#comment-192 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:37:22 +0000 http://www.pyinnya.com/?p=398#comment-192 nice blog, zarni. i look forward to reading and learning. your old friend, barmak On Wisconsin! nice blog, zarni. i look forward to reading and learning. your old friend, barmak
On Wisconsin!

]]> Comment on Economic Strategies and Programmes of Myanmar’s Military Regime, A. Maung Thawnghmung, 2008 by Tim Ramsey http://www.pyinnya.com/?p=387#comment-115 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:48:32 +0000 http://www.pyinnya.com/?p=387#comment-115 I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. Tim Ramsey I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.

Tim Ramsey

]]> Comment on The Problem of State, Mark Taylor, May 2005 by Mark Woodward http://www.pyinnya.com/?p=385#comment-111 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:56:58 +0000 http://www.pyinnya.com/?p=385#comment-111 This is a very interesting article. I would suggest that any of you interested in the concept of State Failure take a look at the reports included on the Political Instability Taskforce, which has been investigating the subject in comparative ways for more than a decade. Here is a link. http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/ The question of whether Burma is a failed stated in vexing. If we define state failure in the way that Taylor has, it very clearly is. Similarly, if there was an accurate account of "battle deaths" it almost certainly is using the criteria that the Taskforce employs. If by a failed state we mean one in which the central institutions have collapsed, it is not. The state does retain the power to regulate the distribution of resources, though clearly in the case of the Nagris disaster it CHOSE NOT TO. In this sense Zibabwe is also not a failed state, simply an obscenely repressive one -- much like Burma. It is also clear that in the case of states where central authority acutually has collapsed, such as the Eastern Congo and Somalia, that this hinders, rather than aids the ability of the international community to provide humanitarian assistance. In simple terms, there are large armed groups who do not answer to central authorieties of any kind. Prolonged humanitarian assistance programs are not possible in this context unless accompanied by levels of military force that the the international community has been unwilling to provide. If the "obligation to protect" is to become an established principle, the international community must re-think its views of state sovereignty, and committ itself to employing all means necessary, including armed intervention, in support of relief activities mandated by this doctrine. mark Woodward Department of Religous Studies Arizona State University. This is a very interesting article. I would suggest that any of you interested in the concept of State Failure take a look at the reports included on the Political Instability Taskforce, which has been investigating the subject in comparative ways for more than a decade. Here is a link. http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/

The question of whether Burma is a failed stated in vexing. If we define state failure in the way that Taylor has, it very clearly is. Similarly, if there was an accurate account of “battle deaths” it almost certainly is using the criteria that the Taskforce employs. If by a failed state we mean one in which the central institutions have collapsed, it is not. The state does retain the power to regulate the distribution of resources, though clearly in the case of the Nagris disaster it CHOSE NOT TO. In this sense Zibabwe is also not a failed state, simply an obscenely repressive one — much like Burma.

It is also clear that in the case of states where central authority acutually has collapsed, such as the Eastern Congo and Somalia, that this hinders, rather than aids the ability of the international community to provide humanitarian assistance. In simple terms, there are large armed groups who do not answer to central authorieties of any kind. Prolonged humanitarian assistance programs are not possible in this context unless accompanied by levels of military force that the the international community has been unwilling to provide.

If the “obligation to protect” is to become an established principle, the international community must re-think its views of state sovereignty, and committ itself to employing all means necessary, including armed intervention, in support of relief activities mandated by this doctrine.

mark Woodward
Department of Religous Studies
Arizona State University.

]]> Comment on About by Welcome to Pyinnya.com at Pyinnya.com http://www.pyinnya.com/?page_id=6#comment-13 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:22:27 +0000 http://www.pyinnya.com/?page_id=6#comment-13 [...] About « Fair Trade in Europe 2005: Facts And Figures in 25 Countries [...] […] About « Fair Trade in Europe 2005: Facts And Figures in 25 Countries […]

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