About this episode

Joseph Lo Bianco discusses the complexities of federalism in Myanmar amidst ongoing civil conflict.

Joseph Lo Bianco is president of the Australia Myanmar Institute and a professor emeritus from the University of Melbourne in linguistics, with a sharp focus on the ever evolving civil war in Myanmar, the politics behind it and the prospect of a future federal government. While the junta has deployed a new propaganda unit to tell the good news about a war that has cost about 93,000 lives, opposition ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have been writing constitutions and forming governments and administrations to run their respective states. Then there’s the opposition in exile, National Unity Government (NUG) which – despite its differences with the EAOs and its allied People’s Defense Force – remains the only viable political outfit with a nationalist agenda for Myanmar. “The NUG does have a well worked out policy about federalism, they have taken this seriously,” Lo Bianco told The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt, adding that this is about delivering the decision making process closer to the people in a country where some 130 languages are spoken. “Federalism doesn’t mean just one thing and Myanmar has to work this out,” he said. “It’s complex. The disadvantages are obvious. You can’t…

People in this episode

Host: Luke Hunt

Guest: Joseph Lo Bianco

Topics covered

• Myanmar civil war
• federalism
• politics
• ethnic armed organizations
• National Unity Government
• propaganda

Keywords

• Myanmar
• federalism
• civil war
• National Unity Government
• ethnic armed organizations
• politics
• propaganda

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Australia Myanmar Institute, University of Melbourne, National Unity Government, People’s Defense Force, Council on Foreign Relations

Places: Myanmar, Rakhine, Mon, Chin, Kachin

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