Description
This presentation is a personal and scholarly examination of Aung San Suu Kyi’s political philosophy, challenging dominant Western interpretations of her leadership through the lens of Burmese Buddhist traditions and lived experience under authoritarian rule.
It explores the deep historical roots of Burma’s authoritarian legacy, examining how royal absolutism, British colonial bureaucracy, Japanese fascism, and military dictatorship combined to create a political culture shaped by fear. Against this backdrop, participants will examine how Aung San Suu Kyi’s “revolution of the spirit”—drawing on Buddhist concepts of fearlessness (abhaya), justice (dhamma), and loving-kindness (metta)—sought to transform not only political institutions but also the psychological foundations of Burmese society.
The talk also helps explain the moral dilemmas Suu Kyi faced, especially during the 2017 Rohingya crisis, when international criticism failed to account for the precarious balance she maintained between civilian authority and military power under Burma’s constrained constitutional system.
Presenter:
Mon Mon Myat is a Myanmar-born academic, journalist, and media consultant. She holds a Ph.D. in Peacebuilding from Payap University in Thailand, where her doctoral research examined The Philosophical Foundations of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Political Thought. She also holds a Master’s in Journalism from Ateneo de Manila University and an MBA from Payap University. Her academic work explores the intersection of media, politics, and human rights in contemporary Myanmar, with peer-reviewed publications in Palgrave Communications, Social Transformations, and Springer Nature.
She currently serves on the faculty at the Department of Peace Studies at Payap University. Mon Mon Myat has held key leadership roles in media organizations, notably as Bureau Chief and Senior Management Consultant for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), where she oversaw strategic planning and sustainability initiatives. As a journalist, her bylines have appeared in The Bangkok Post, Agence France-Presse (AFP), The Irrawaddy, and other leading regional outlets. In 2013, she collaborated with Pansodan Books to publish Heartless Forest, an anthology that gives voice to twenty-first-century Burmese women writers as they explore identity, gender, and the human condition. She is also the producer and filmmaker of A Long Way Panlong, a documentary chronicling Aung San Suu Kyi’s political journey from 2012 to 2016—a period of transition and tumult in Myanmar’s modern history.
COST : 350 THB
