Despite growing interest in China, scholars continue to grapple with its reemergence as a major power, offering gloomy predictions of a fraught geopolitical landscape. More recent analyses, however, stemming from constructivist thinking, explore the relevance of China’s history, geography, and culture in shaping its foreign policy. Encapsulated in the grand strategy concept, this perspective highlights China’s long-standing preoccupation with its periphery and emphasis on peace. Problematically, current scholarship offers little insight as to whether periphery countries also share this benign view of China. Aimed at addressing this gap, this article explores China’s role in Myanmar’s peace process, using ‘grand strategy’ to analyze over 50 interviews with diverse stakeholders in Myanmar. Based on the data, this article finds that China’s support for Myanmar is perceived to be economically driven, often at the expense of peace, implying that the historically inclined perspective of grand strategy requires rethinking.
Motivation
Discussions of good governance often highlight the definitional ambiguity associated with the concept. Recent scholarship on governance is beginning to emphasize the need for more context‐specific interpretations of good governance. Specifically, the literature draws on Douglass North’s institutional framework, but without paying enough attention to the role of “informal constraints.” This article seeks to address this gap by drawing on primary data.
Purpose
This article explores the dilemmas or the “informal constraints” facing actors in implementing governance aid, exploring this phenomenon through the case of Australia’s aid for good governance to Myanmar during 2012–2017. The principal question is: what are the informal constraints or dilemmas confronting actors when implementing governance aid?
Methods
The article is based on individual semi‐structured interviews with key informants based in Myanmar and Australia alongside analysis of government reports from development organizations working in Myanmar.
Findings
In Myanmar, the informal constraints facing actors include the inordinate role of the military in political life, the issue of decentralization and problematic nationalist discourses within the education system. This research also argues that Australia’s approach is deeply embedded in the same neoliberal ethos that prominent multilateral institutions have also followed, with little acknowledgement of the context‐specific informal constraints that actors confront when implementing governance aid in Myanmar.
Policy Implication
When discussing good governance, there is a need to recognize the informal constraints in implementing governance aid. In the case of Australia’s governance aid to Myanmar, little has been done to address or acknowledge the context‐specific challenges facing Myanmar’s quest for good governance.
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