Nine years after the formation of a military junta designed to lift a once-prosperous country out of poverty and isolation, Burma remains poorly equipped to face a future with few friends.
A senior diplomat in Rangoon has a quick explanation: 'Real freedom is anathema to people used to barking out orders.' But when the State Law and Order Restoration Council was born in the wake of the anti-democracy crackdown on September 18, 1988, that left thousands of protesters dead, it was certainly not part of the plan that Burma should remain poor and lonely.
Months before, dictator General Ne Win had stunned the nation by stepping down after admitting that a quarter-century of his quasi-socialist rule had brought the country to its knees.
But the optimism caused by the ageing strongman's calls for free markets and a multi-party Government was quickly tempered as the unbending nature of his chosen 'transitional' vehicle the SLORC, to use its ugly acronym, became clear.
'It was always inherent contradiction to expect military figures brought up in the tradition of a very self-reliant ultra-nationalist like Ne Win to relax their control and allow the markets to work their magic,' the diplomat said.
The generals expected that if they could lift Burma on to the Asia high-growth bandwagon, greater wealth would reduce the clamour for political freedom.
