by Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak
As ever, the Western press are keen to jump onto a bandwagon and present a complicated issue in a remote part of the world as black and white. We asked our regular correspondent, Dr Thitinan Ponsudhirak, Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, to comment on the troubles in Rakhine Province. Dr Thitinan is a frequent visitor to Myanmar and visiting professor there.
In this brief country report taken from Asianomics Wealthy Nations market commentary, Myanmar: Rohingya Troubles, he looks not only at the excessive response by the Burmese military and government to the current troubles but at the genesis of the problem in a country of 135 recognised ethnic minorities, none of which are the Rohingya. As usual, there is much more to this issue than meets the eye.