Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Struggle for Democracy

Burma's pro-democracy movement emerged in 1988 when massive demonstrations swept across the country. This book gives an account of the movement, its emergence and growth, and Aung San Suu Kyi's prominent leadership role since its inception. Woven into this history is an outline of how Aung San Suu Kyi herself has become a highly respected pro-democracy icon internationally while being revered nationally as the "female Bodhisattva" who will deliver the Burmese people from the evil of the military regime. Lintner considers her strengths as well as her weaknesses, and traces her life not only in Burma, but also in India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bhutan, and Japan. She was greatly inspired by her father, Aung San, Burma's independence hero who was assassinated when she was an infant, and also by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Lintner analyzes the staying power of Burma's military regime and points out the obstacles to achieving what Aung San Suu Kyi is striving for: a free and democratic Burma.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and currently Asia correspondent for the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, as well as a contributor to Asia Times Online, Hong Kong, and Jane's Information Group in the UK. He has written seven books on Burma, among them Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy and Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency since 1948. He lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand.