Principal speaker
Adjunct Professor Andrew Selth
The Southeast Asian Studies Group provides an informal but informative forum to hear relevant interpretations on developments in Southeast Asia. It is jointly hosted by The Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, and the School of Political Science and International Studies, and School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, University of Queensland.
Police Reform and the ‘Civilianisation’ of Security in Burma (Myanmar)
Presented by: Associate Professor Andrew Selth, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University
For more than 50 years, whenever reference was made to Burma’s security apparatus, the armed forces immediately sprang to mind. As Burma hosted the most durable military dictatorship of modern times, this was hardly surprising. There is another institution, however, that was once even more important in Burma’s internal affairs and, arguably, is starting to recover its former role. This is the Myanmar Police Force (MPF). There is little chance that the MPF will replace the armed forces as the ultimate guarantor of law and order in Burma, but the MPF is gradually being recognized as a large, increasingly powerful and influential institution that, in a more modern and civilianized form, has the potential to become a key instrument of state control.
In this talk, I will outline recent developments in Burma’s policing arrangements and discuss the obstacles faced by the MPF in making the transition to a modern force based on international models and standards.
Andrew Selth is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Griffith Asia Institute. He has been studying Burma for 40 years, as a diplomat, strategic intelligence analyst and research scholar. He recently completed a book entitled The Riff from Mandalay: Burma, Kipling and Western Music.
- Friday 17 October 2014
- University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus
- Steele Building 03, room 262
- 2:30 – 4:00pm
Numbers are limited and reservations are essential. To RSVP contact Natasha Vary on (07) 3735 5322 or events-gai@griffith.edu.au by 5.00pm Wednesday 15 October 2014.
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RSVP
RSVP on or before Wednesday 15 October 2014 , by email events-gai@griffith.edu.au , or by phone 37355322