For those of you, like me, who have a pitifully small understanding of Myanmar, this introduction provides a history, particularly of the British and the great tribal groups, discusses the interests and actions of the great powers, and reviews the recent struggles and prospects in Myanmar.
The look of this video is a little cute, but don’t let that fool you. Speaker Kevin Kirk developed software in the USSR, Israel, Russia, and Ukraine, was a member of the Department of Foreign Affairs teaching ambassadors in Thailand,1 and recently he has taught computer science, as he puts it, in most of the unis in Thailand.
I apologize for the lack of documentation. The lecture is informative and moves at a good clip, so please give it your due attention. There are certain points where the visuals are important, so you will miss out on critical information if you treat this talk like a YouTube interview, and listen while you do other things. For example, at the beginning, Kirk takes the audience through the major regions of Myanmar and the dominant ethnic groups there. This is an important anchor, so please watch and listen during this segment. There are a few other points when launching and using maps, and again, make sure you’re paying attention to the screen at that point.
I mentioned a few factoids to Lambert, who has been following Myanmar, and it was news to him. So even if you have some knowledge about this topic, I suspect you will come away from this presentation feeling better informed.
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1 Thailand was the first country to establish a training school for foreign diplomats, as in other countries outside of Thailand. The participants were from what we now call South African countries. As a result, Kirk has a large network among his former students in addition to the vantage point he gained during his years at the State Department.
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