Author Description

Just as the prismatic effects of glass mosaics or mirrors produce the spectrums of colour that give Myanmar’s pagodas their glittering iridescence, Prisms on the Golden Pagoda offers a spectrum of views on the country’s national reconciliation process. Because many of Myanmar’s outlying ethnic groups straddle the country’s borders with neighbouring countries in South and Southeast Asia and with China, the outcome of this process is crucial not only for the country’s current domestic liberalization but also for regional geopolitics. The editor of this volume, Kyaw Yin Hlaing is a US-trained academic who currently serves as an advisor to Myanmar's President. He has assembled contributions from veteran activists such as the Shan leader U Shwe Ohn, the Chin politician Lian H. Sakhong, Widura Thakin Chit Maung, once leader of Burma's "Red Socialists", and Thamarr Taman, formerly a senior civil servant. Commentary by the editor, and by Robert H Taylor and British diplomat-turned activist Derek Tonkin, explains the context and significance of these materials. By showing how the national reconciliation effort has been viewed inside the country, the contributors provide an important insider’s perspective on Myanmar’s difficult legacies of violence and separatism.