ABSTRACT
Josef Silverstein (1980), a scholar of politics in Burma, remarked at the end of his 1980 book Burmese Politics: The Dilemma of National Unity, that ‘claiming unity without demonstrating it to the satisfaction of all is no answer, and the continuation of armed struggle seems to bear that out’ (249). Silverstein’s book remains one of the few volumes to focus solely on the overarching question of national unity in Myanmar, although the concept, along with the corollary issue of nation-building, is certainly at the heart of many studies of politics and identity in the country, especially those that deal with the development of national identity among the non-Burman ethnic groups. Silverstein was correct in his analysis then and the point remains salient today: political leaders in Myanmar have made a habit of declaring (even insisting on) the unity of the Burmese/Myanmar nation, yet the persistence of conflict and the militant assertion of sub-national identities would suggest that there is no coherent, unifying Myanmar national identity.
