State-building in Myanmar is a contentious exercise with many ethnic “nations”
challenging the unitary concept of the ruling elites, who are mainly from the
majority Bamar ethnic group and resorted to armed struggle.1
The Communists also
did not accept the nascent government’s legitimacy and sought “regime change”
through force of arms. Consequently, the army was wracked by mutinies and civil
war erupted soon after independence. The government was fighting a multi-front
against a multitude of ideological and ethnic insurgencies, some of which are still
continuing.2
Moreover, the defeated units of the Chinese Nationalist Army know
as KMT (Koumintang) entered Myanmar’s Shan State in early 1950 from Yunnan,
and built an enclave along the border with China. The military had to mount many
campaigns over the next decade to dislodge them, while the government pursued
diplomatic means to repatriate them to Taiwan.3
The incessant fighting in support of
the government, and its legendary role in the resistance movement against the British
rulers and later the Japanese occupiers in World War II, have resulted in elevating the
military not only as an indispensable adjunct to state power, but as a fount of power
itself. As such, the military’s perspective has had a domineering influence in shaping
Myanmar’s security outlook since independence Myanmar is a multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-religious society. Officially,
there are 135 sub-national (ethnic) groups under eight major ethnic communities.
Population estimates (last census was in 1983) indicate that the majority Bamar
(formerly called Burman) ethnic group constitutes over 60 percent, while non-native
(mainly of Chinese and Indian origin) communities numbered around 5 percent of
the total population. The aforementioned political, geographic, and demographic
realities have heavily influenced Myanmar’s ruling elites in their perspectives on
national security, and the role of the military in political governance.