Aung San Suu Kyi: The Realities of Power in Burma's Authoritarian Legacy

Aung San Suu Kyi: The Realities of Power in Burma's Authoritarian Legacy

Author: Mon Mon Myat
Publisher: Penguin Books
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9789815362459
Pages: 320p
Weight:
Year: 2026
Price: RM92

For more than three decades, Burma’s political prisoners, activists, and visionaries have embodied moral courage in defying authoritarian repression and unjust laws. At the forefront of this moral struggle stands Aung San Suu Kyi, whose unwavering commitment to nonviolence, democracy, and spiritual renewal has shaped the modern Burmese political landscape.

This book undertakes a philosophical exploration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s political thought, drawing inspiration from Johan Galtung’s study of Gandhi and guided by personal interviews and close observation of her political journey from 2012 to 2020. It examines whether she should be understood, as Michal Lubina suggests, as a ‘hybrid politician’—one who blends Western liberal ideals with Burmese Buddhist values—or whether a more fitting lens reveals her as a peacebuilder committed to a spiritual revolution.

This study challenges simplistic portrayals and explores whether Aung San Suu Kyi’s principled leadership reflects not a betrayal of liberal ideals, but rather the articulation of a distinctively Burmese path toward peace and justice. It presents a deeply contextual account of moral courage, just law, and an uncorrupted society as essential elements in Burma’s ongoing quest for federal democracy and decentralized governance.