ABSTRACT
Federalism in Asia remains path dependent. For India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Myanmar, it was the impact of British colonial rule and the anti-colonial movement for federalism. In Nepal it was the case of a long-drawn monarchical and centralized state and the armed struggles by the Maoists and other Marxists parties and movements that provide for the legacy. In Myanmar, the anti-colonial movement incorporated the principle of ethnic equality, but it was nipped in the bud. The promise was made in 1947 and remained unfulfilled until 2008. This chapter is concerned with the different historical trajectories of development of the idea of federalism in the countries under study and how and why federal arrangements proved to be relatively successful in India and Malaysia but failed in Pakistan and Myanmar. It explains in particular why the Maoist armed struggles had to pay serious attention to the issue of ethnicity. The recent developments in federalism in Asia are also pointed out, with particular attention to the difficulties being faced by Myanmar’s transition.
