Strategic Control Tactics of the Tatmadaw in Democratic Myanmar

Abstract

In an effort to achieve sustained longevity and economic prowess the Burmese military (Tatmadaw) had to implement a new system of governance that is more easily acceptable in the eyes of the international community, and more in line with the calls for democracy that have filled political discourse within the nation. To do so it ignited a political and economic transition which took the nation from direct military rule to military control. After over five decades of authoritarian governance, the Tatmadaw reestablished civilian rule only after it had fully established a political system that protected its primary economic and political interests (Bunte, 2017). It called this political system a ‘disciplined democracy’ allowing it to successfully craft an external image conducive to welcomed involvement in the global economy while at the same time guaranteeing its continued, central position in economic and political life.