Ashley South is an independent writer and consultant, specialising in humanitarian and political issues in Burma/Myanmar and Southeast Asia.

Latest Publications

Myanmar – Surviving the Storm: self-protection and survival in the Delta – PDF

This co-authored October 2011 study from the Local to Global Protection initiative (www.local2global.info) explores the perceptions and realities of people living in parts of the Irrawaddy Delta affected by Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on the night of 2 May 2008. In responding to and recovering from Cyclone Nargis, affected communities experienced three ‘phases’ of assistance:

1. First and foremost in importance were the self-protection activities of affected people themselves – the ways in which individuals, families and communities gathered together to help each other, and protect the most vulnerable.
2. The next phase of assistance came from within Myanmar itself – ordinary citizens, including businesspeople who collected donations and purchased supplies to send to affected areas, as well as more formally organised faith-based and secular CBOs and local NGOs. In some instances, Myanmar armed forces were also among the first to provide limited assistance, particularly in the most remote areas and where troops had been deployed for security reasons.
3. With some important exceptions, only a few international agencies were present on the ground in the most remote areas in a major way until around one month after the natural disaster. In part at least, this was due to restrictions on access on the part of the government.

Burma's Longest War: anatomy of the Karen conflict – PDF

As Burma enters a period of political transition, the role of the Karen ethnic communities will be critical in responding to the political and economic challenges that will shape their future. This March 2011 report from Transnational Institute and the Burma Centre Netherlands offers an in-depth history and analysis of the Karen's complex relationship with the Burmese state and central government.

Political grievances among Karen and other ethnic nationality communities, which have driven over half a century of armed conflict in Burma/Myanmar, remain unresolved. As the country enters a period of transition following the November 2010 elections and formation of a new government, the Karen political landscape is undergoing its most significant changes in a generation. There is a pressing need for Karen social and political actors to demonstrate their relevance to the new political and economic agendas in Burma, and in particular to articulate positions regarding the major economic and infrastructure development projects to be implemented in the coming years.

The country's best-known insurgent organisation, the Karen National Union (KNU), is in crisis, having lost control of its once extensive ‘liberated zones’, and lacks a political agenda relevant to all Karen communities. Meanwhile the government’s demand that ceasefire groups, such as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, transform into Border Guard Forces under direct Burma Army control throws into question the future of various armed groups that have split from the KNU since the 1990s. In this context, Thailand-Burma border areas have seen an upsurge in fighting since late 2010. Nevertheless, the long-term prospect is one of the decline of insurgency as a viable political or military strategy.

Equitable solutions to Burma’s social, political and economic problems must involve settling long-standing conflicts between ethnic communities and the state. While Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular leader of the country’s democracy movement, seems to recognise this fact, the military government, which holds most real power in the country, has sought to suppress and assimilate minority communities. It is yet to be seen whether Karen and other ethnic nationality representatives elected in November 2010 will be able to find the political space within which to exercise some influence on local or national politics. In the meantime, civil society networks operating within and between Karen and other ethnic nationality communities represent vehicles for positive, incremental change, at least at local levels.

Books

• 2008 [reprint edition 2010] – Ethnic Politics in Burma: States of Conflict (Routledge) – flyer | buy online
  e-book – http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/smoreinfo.asp?bookid=536956486&etailerid=19

• 2003 [reprint edition 2005] – Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma: The Golden Sheldrake (RoutledgeCurzon) – flyer

Chapters in edited volumes

• 2010 – Karen Legitimacy and Conflict (in ‘Ruling Myanmar’, Australian National University/ISEAS Singapore, eds Trevor Wilson, Monique Skidmore & Nicholas Cheesman)
• 2007 – Conflict and Displacement in Burma/Myanmar (in ‘Myanmar: The State, Society and the Environment’, Australian National University/ISEAS Singapore, eds Trevor Wilson & Monique Skidmore)
• 2007 – Ceasefires and Civil Society: The Case of the Mon (in the ‘Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma’, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, ed. Mikael Gravers) – PDF | book flyer

Journal articles and academic papers

• 2008 – Civil Society in Burma: The Development of Democracy Amidst Conflict (East-West Centre, Washington – ‘Policy Studies’ series No. 51) 
• 2007 – Karen Nationalist Communities: The ‘Problem’ of Diversity (‘Contemporary Southeast Asia’ Vol.29, No.1 - ISEAS/National University of Singapore) – PDF
• 2007 – Burma: The Changing Nature of Displacement Crises (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, Working Paper No. 39) – PDF
• 2004 – Political Transition in Myanmar: A New Model for Democratization (‘Contemporary Southeast Asia’ Vol. 26, No. 4 – ISEAS/National University of Singapore) – PDF

Reports

• October 2011 – Myanmar – Surviving the Storm: self-protection and survival in the Delta (co-authored, Local to Global Protection initiative: www.local2global.info) – PDF
• March 2011 – Burma’s Longest War: anatomy of the Karen conflict (Transnational Institute/Burma Centre Netherlands) – PDF
• September 2010 – Conflict and Survival: self-protection in south-east Burma (co-authored, Chatham House/ Royal Institute of International Affairs, Asia Programme Paper ASP PP 2010/04; Local to Global Protection initiative) – PDF
• December 2007 – Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Land Rights in Burma (Center on Housing Rights and Evictions) – PDF
• September 2002 – Internally Displaced People and Relocation Sites in Eastern Burma (Burmese Border Consortium, Bangkok)

Articles

• June 2011 – Burma’s New Challenge , ‘Pacific Forum CSIS’ (PacNet#32) – PDF
• December 2010 – Post-Election Politics in Burma - Glimmers of Hope? , ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
• November 2010 – Voting, But Not As We Know It, ‘The World Today’ (Chatham House) – PDF
• July 2010 – Making the Best of a Bad Election, ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
• May 2010 – Burma's Electoral Dilemmas, 'The World Today' (Chatham House) - PDF
• March 2010 – Self-protection and Survival in Southeast Burma, ‘Humanitarian Exchange’ – PDF
• November 2008 – Economics Crisis and Human Rights, ‘The World Today’ (Chatham House) – PDF
• August 2008 – Electoral Dilemmas, Independent Mon News Agency commentary (4-8-2008) – PDF
• July 2008 – Burma after the Cyclone: Making a Disaster Out Of the Cyclone, ‘The World Today’ (Chatham House) – PDF
• April 2008 – Humanitarian Aid to IDPs in Burma: activities and debates, ‘Forced Migration Review’ (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University) – PDF
• March 2008 – Prospects for Burma’s New Constitution, Independent Mon News Agency commentary (17-3-2008) – PDF
• February 2008 – Mahn Sha La Phan: Resistance leader of Burma’s Karen people, ‘The Guardian’ obituary (18-2-2008) – PDF
• December 2007 – Crisis on the Burma Border, ‘The Nation’ (20-12-2007) – PDF
• October 2007 – Mon Nationalist Movements: insurgency, ceasefires and political struggle – paper presented at ‘Seminar on Discovery of Ramanndesa’, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, (11-10-2007), published by Mon Unity League (Bangkok, January 2008) – PDF
• August 2007 – What lies ahead for Burma’s cease-fires, ‘The Nation’ (8-1-2007) – PDF
• October 2006 – The Quest for Karen Unity, ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
• October 2006 – Border-based Insurgency: Time for a Reality Check, ‘The Irrawaddy’ online – PDF
• September 2004 – Beyond the National Convention, ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
• November 2001 – Burma’s  Ex-Insurgents: The Mon Ceasefire and Political Transition, ‘Burma Debate’ (Vol. VIII, Fall 2001) – PDF

Selected Reviews

• March 2010 – Maung Aung Myoe, 'Building the Tatmadaw' (ISEAS 2009), ‘ASEASUK News’ – PDF
• September 2009 – Michael Charney, 'A History of Modern Burma' (CUP 2009), ‘ASEASUK News’ – PDF
• May 2009 – Robert Taylor, ‘The State in Myanmar’ (Hurst 2009), ‘ASEASUK News’ – PDF