#110 Will There be a Yangon Spring? 🎧

<em>This newsletter is really a public policy thought-letter. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought-letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. It seeks to answer just one question: </em><strong><em>how do I think about a particular public policy problem/solution?</em></strong><br/><br/><em>PS: If you enjoy listening instead of reading, we have this edition available as an audio narration on all podcasting platforms courtesy the good folks at </em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ad-auris.com/"><em>Ad-Auris</em></a><em>. If you have any feedback, please send it to us.</em><br/><br/>Global Policy Watch: No Telefoon in Rangoon <br/><br/>- <em>RSJ</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/cbErQRZZNKY"><em>Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon Wahan Se Kiya Hai Telefoon </em></a><em>is how C. Ramchandra immortalised Rangoon (Yangon) in our collective memories all those years ago. Unfortunately, ‘wahan se kiya hai telefoon’ is a tad difficult these days for the people of Yangon. </em><br/><br/>Myanmar should be aware of the idea of eternal recurrence by now. That all events in the world recur in the same pattern over an eternal series of cycles. The coup earlier this month by the <em>Tatmadaw</em> (the armed forces) was a case of history repeating itself three times over in its short post-war history. The reason served by the military had a familiar ring to it. It alleged widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 elections that led to a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi helmed National League For Democracy (NLD). The quasi-democracy that was in place in Myanmar since 2015 didn’t mean any loosening of the iron-fist of the Tatmadaw. It retained its control on the key levers of power. For it to allege voter fraud in elections is comical. It must follow then it is admitting its incompetence in being dictatorial. Anyway, leave that aside. History has sho