Myanmar as a Pariah state labelled by the West: the era before political transition in 2010

Abstract

The World underwent substantial changes in the political arena during the Cold War era. Democratization spread across western countries as a result of their belief that their states would become stronger under a democratic regime. These western countries next began to refer to any state, which did not apply the same regime, as a weak state. In the democratic world, the United States of America began to act a big brother to other nations. The US has since created many other terms to use in place of the term weak state, such as a rogue state and an axis of evil. The purpose of this article is to explain why Myanmar is claimed to be a pariah state from a western perspective before its political transition in 2010. There were many problems that can be seen to have arisen from the lack of human rights in that country, and from its apparent lack of a rule of law. The way the country is ruled under a military regime is also another reason to term it as a pariah, as the junta often uses violence against its own civilians. All of these factors have helped to shape the current negative attitudes of the West towards the Myanmarese state.