Nach Ansicht der meisten Beobachter können die am 7. November in Birma/Myanmar abgehaltenen Wahlen nicht als »frei und fair« bezeichnet werden. Die Militärregierung hat jedoch mit diesen Wahlen wesentliche Ziele erreicht: Sie hat an Legitimität gewonnen, die Gräben in den Reihen der...

Die jüngsten Parlamentswahlen in Thailand erbrachten einen klaren Sieg der Partei des früheren Ministerpräsidenten Thaksin Shinawatra, der 2006 durch einen Militärputsch aus seinem Amt vertrieben worden war. Trotz der eindeutigen Mehrheitsverhältnisse sieht sich Yingluck Shinawatra, die...

In the early 1990s the EU and the USA responded to the 1988 military coup in Burma and the new government's failure to recognise the opposition's 1990 election victory by publicly condemning the new regime, terminating development co-operation, erecting trade barriers and drastically scaling...

Economic reforms during the past 20 years have brought high growth rates and modest prosperity to Vietnam. However, the limitations of those reforms are becoming more and more apparent. The 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), held in Hanoi from April 18 to 25, was...

The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Burmese opposition party NLD, that opened on May 18, 2009, has for weeks been the cause of worldwide outrage. In this situation, it is easy to forget the huge potential for violence that is contained in the conflicts that are coming to a head between...

With its announcement of democratic elections to be held on 7 November 2010, Burma's military regime has set the topic that is absolutely dominating national and international discussion of the country's political future. Problems facing Burma's economic development have taken on a position of...