About this episode

The episode discusses Myanmar's complex geopolitical landscape and its international relations, particularly with China and Russia, featuring insights from Dr. Wai Yan Phyo Naing.

Myanmar occupies a unique position in contemporary international affairs, where the legacies of post-independence neutralism, decades of military rule, and a fractured post-coup order converge to produce one of the most complex foreign policy environments in the Indo-Pacific. Dr Naing is a visiting scholar at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, under the Taiwan Fellowship Program. At the moment, he is focusing on modern Myanmar’s domestic politics, democratisation, and international relations, with particular attention to Myanmar–Russia and Myanmar–China relations and their implications for regional security, political development, and social change. In this role, he conducts independent and collaborative research drawing on archival materials, historical documents, and qualitative sources. His current project, “Insights from Taiwan’s Democratisation: Implications for Upcoming Reform Processes in Myanmar,” examines how Taiwan’s experience of democratisation can inform prospective political reforms in Myanmar. Publications: Northern Myanmar Poses a Challenge to China’s Critical Minerals Strategy The Dilemma of Sino-Myanmar Relations: The Case of Myitsone Hydropower…

People in this episode

Host: Martin Zubko

Guest: Wai Yan Phyo Naing

Topics covered

• Myanmar geopolitics
• international relations
• China-Myanmar relations
• democratisation
• regional security
• political development

Keywords

• Myanmar
• geopolitics
• China
• Russia
• democratisation
• foreign policy
• Taiwan
• political crisis
• regional security

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica

Books & works: Insights from Taiwan’s Democratisation: Implications for Upcoming Reform Processes in Myanmar, Northern Myanmar Poses a Challenge to China’s Critical Minerals Strategy, The Dilemma of Sino-Myanmar Relations: The Case of Myitsone Hydropower Dam Project

Places: Myanmar, Taiwan, China, Russia

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