Ne Win’s Political Ideology: One Culture, One Economy, One Military (1967–1989)

This chapter summarizes Ne Win’s political ideology, which might be called “Ne Winism,” and describes how the ideology came to permeate Burma/Myanmar institutions. Ne Win’s philosophy emerged out of an understanding of Buddhist leadership, and Marxist doctrine, which in the hands of the army resulted in the violent Four Cuts campaigns in which the army sought to dominate highland areas. In response, ethnics developed their own doctrines emphasizing their own consciousness relative to the Tatmadaw and their policies. The odd result is two sets of doctrines, out of which a shared “cohesion in oppression” emerges, in which the dominated highlanders can define themselves only relative to Burmese military policies and vice versa.