Modern Diplomacy
Published 2 months ago
As part of the Geneva Lecture Series concepted and conducted by prof. Anis H. Bajrektarevic,
United Nations University Rector and Undersecretary General of the UN, Dr. David M. Malone gave a highly mesmerizing and content intensive lecture for the faculty members and Geneva-based diplomats. Excellency Malone outlined his view on international development, focusing on how the theory and (especially) the practice of such concept has evolved over the past decades. While international development has done much to improve the socio-economic situation in developing countries, much remains to be done, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – Dr. Malone said.
On 20 October 2020, United Nations University hosted “Does History Shape Destiny? The Case of Myanmar”, a virtual conversation with Dr Thant Myint-U, Chairman of U Thant House and the Yangon Heritage Trust.
Myanmar has existed throughout its history in a variety of political configurations, with each contributing to the nature of the country we know today. The architecturally and culturally renowned Pagan Kingdom that began over a millennium ago established the Bamar ethnic group as the region’s dominant people. The Toungoo Empire in the 16th Century, the largest ever South-East Asia witnessed, absorbed many peripheral lands and their ethnically diverse inhabitants. Colonial rule three centuries later further exacerbated ethnic differences within, albeit under the British and Anglo-Burmese dominance. The 1947 Panglong Agreement then enabled the establishment of the independent Union of Burma, but fissures quickly surfaced, igniting internal conflict along political and ethnic