LyrArc Article Gist
This report from Myamar's capital Naypyidaw, says the capital with six lane highways with hardly any cars is symbolic of Myanmar since independence from the British in 1948. For most of this period it has been ruled by the military which keeps a distance from the prior capital Rangoon because of protests for democracy. He points out that western disillusionment with Aung suu Kyi comes from a failure to understand her position as a counselor not allowed to assume the presidency because her children are British citizens, that most of the key ministries are controlled by the military. She is a symbolic head following the 2015 elections and needs to work with the military in a long term effort to bring Myanmar into the community of nations after decades of isolation. Reporting from Myanmar Cohen of the NYT says it is necessary to understand this to understand Myanmar today and Suu Kyi's reticence in the face of the crisis from Bangladeshi migrants becoming one third of the population of the northern region of Rakhine. Cohen also points out that behind the image of Buddhist Burma in western eyes is a region of tropical jungles in the north with minority communities that came under British rule in Burma, and the fears of losing their identity of Burmese Buddhists in the Rangoon region.

Cohen ends with a plea to give Suu Kyi more time and to remember her "letters from Burma" about the need for the rule of law and how the long traumas of military rule have affected a whole generation of Burmese children. It is easy he says for western media who have not faced down guns to de sanctify Kyi's image, but she remains the last hope for Myanmar in what he calls a game that is being played out with military rulers over a long, long period.