ABSTRACT
This chapter provides insights into the complexity of Myanmar’s relations with the world since 1948. Its post-colonial foreign policy content and approach have both undergone striking transformations. The country has fluctuated between phases of positive neutralism, military-inspired isolationism, and passive alignment towards a neighbouring power, China. Yet the chapter also highlights striking elements of continuity, such as the enduring influence of the Burmese military over foreign-policy formulation, an uneasy geographical location at one of Asia’s most strategic crossroads, and the multifaceted international impacts of the country’s domestic conflicts and search for democracy. All these aspects continue to weigh heavily in Myanmar’s foreign policy decisions in the post-junta context of the 2020s.
