BURMA'S ARMED FORCES:
Power Without Glory
Andrew Selth
Foreword
by David I. Steinberg, Georgetown University
"Selth's book will become a standard reference work. [It] is an encyclopedic, nuts and bolts analysis of the modern-day Tatmadaw...updat[ing] our understanding of th[eir] increasingly modernized armed forces."
- Critical Asian Studies review 35:4 (2003),621-632 entitled "The Enigma of Burma's Tatmadaw: A 'State within a State'"
"Selth's 25 years as a diplomat, strategic defence analyst, and academic has produced more subtle elements...[than a simple] confrontation between the movement for democracy and the all-powerful military, the Tatmadaw."
- John Graham 15/11/03 in The Canberra Times
This book is essential
reading for any student of Burma, security in the Asia-Pacific region,
China-India relations, or military and strategic priorities in Asia and the
world. The key to
coming to grips with modern Burma is to understand the country’s armed
forces. Although it has dominated all
aspects of Burmese life since the 1962 coup, there has been no comprehensive or
detailed study of the Tatmadaw as a military institution. Drawing on five years
of research in Burma and beyond, including interviews with military specialists
and commentators, Andrew Selth has written the first book on the inner workings
of the Tatmadaw.
Here is a
scholarly and objective account of Burma’s strategic posture, its defense
policies and threat perceptions; its military doctrine, defense expenditures,
arms acquisitions, and combat capabilities. Here are chapters on Burma’s
intelligence apparatus, and its suspected uses of chemical and biological
weapons. Diagrams and maps illustrate the Tatmadaw’s organization, structure, and
order of battle.
The author
pays particular attention to the dramatic expansion and modernization of the
Tatmadaw since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and the secret role that
countries like China have played in this process. There are valuable insights
into the way the armed forces have attempted to govern Burma over the past 14
years, their internal disputes, and how they see their future role. Finally,
the book examines how the Tatmadaw might cope with a democratic government
coming to power in Rangoon.
“This study is unique in
the literature and it is evident that it will be required reading for anyone
seriously concerned with Myanmar, the Southeast Asia region, and indeed with
the relationships between India and China. It is not only those observers of
the Burmese scene who are in Mr. Selth’s debt, but also those involved in the
study of the military in various societies who can learn much from this
important volume. There are lessons of Burma/Myanmar applicable in relation to
policies in other multi-ethnic states, in economic development, and in
civil-military relations. Mr. Selth has given us much to muse on beyond the
borders of that unfortunate country”
— from the Foreword by
David I. Steinberg
CONTENTS
Historical and Strategic Setting;
Defense Policies and Threat Perceptions; Tatmadaw Structure and Organization;
Recruitment, Training, and Doctrine;
Military Intelligence;
The Economic
Dimension;
The Burma Army; The Burma Navy; The Burma Air Force; Burma and
Exotic Weapons; The Tatmadaw Today; The Tatmadaw in a Democracy
Andrew Selth has studied international security issues and Asian
affairs for 30 years, as a diplomat, a strategic intelligence analyst, and an
academic. He has published widely on these subjects, including five books. For
the past 15 years he has specialized in the study of modern Burma and
established an international reputation as an expert on the Burmese armed
forces.
EastBridge Signature Books pp maps, tables,
appendices, bibliography, index
ISBN 1-891936-13-1 (pb) $29.95