Marco Bünte

Burma's Transition to "Disciplined Democracy": Abdication or Institutionalization of Military Rule?

Direct military rule has become rare in world politics. Today, most military regimes have either given way to some form of democracy or been transformed into another form of authoritarianism. This article formulates an analytical framework for the detachment of militaries from politics and identifies positive and negative factors for a withdrawal. It then applies this framework to the case of Burma/Myanmar, which is an example of deeply entrenched military rule. It is argued that the retreat from direct rule has brought with it a further institutionalization of military rule in politics, since the military was able to safeguard its interests and design the new electoral authoritarian regime according to its own purposes. The article identifies the internal dynamics within the military regime as a prime motive for a reform of the military regime. Although the external environment has completely changed over the last two decades, this had only a minor impact on military politics. The opposition could not profit from the regime’s factionalization and external sanctions and pressure have been undermined by Asian engagement.

Europa und Ostasien — Partner einer multilateralen Ordnungspolitik?

Das neue Europa sieht sich am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts mit einer Vielzahl von Fragen konfrontiert. Neben dem Problem der institutionellen Ausgestaltung eines erweiterten Europas von 25 Nationalstaaten stellt sich die Frage nach der Rolle des Kontinents in der Weltpolitik. Insbesondere nach dem Krieg der USA und ihrer „Koalition der Willigen“ gegen den Irak und den Tendenzen einer zunehmend „unilateralistischen” Weltordnungspolitik Amerikas ist es ungewiss, ob Europa dazu in der Lage ist, als eigenstandig handelnder Akteur auf der Weltbuhne zu agieren und die Macht der Vereinigten Staaten auszubalancieren.