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Published by: Harvard Kennedy School
Originally published in: 2018
Version: October 24, 2018
Length: 13 pages
Data source: Published sources

Abstract

This is an abridged version of the case. This 9-page version of Seizing the Moment primarily differs from the original in omitting a 4-page section that describes the early, confusing stages of Myanmar's democratization process. This leadership case is set in the spring of 2016 and gives students the chance to grapple with the difficult challenges confronting Myanmar's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after a rapid turn of fortune took her, over a period of six years, from longtime prisoner of conscience to civilian head of state in Myanmar. The case describes the nature of Suu KyI's political role in Myanmar during her many years of house arrest and then shows how that role shifted in the years following her release. With freedom and an increase in formal power came new dilemmas, for example, whether to take an oath to a problematic Constitution, how to manage her star power vis-à-vis Myanmar President Thein Sein, and how to address intercommunal violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, an unpopular ethnic minority in Rakhine state. (See HKS case Fallen Idol? Aung San Suu Kyi & the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis for a more detailed treatment of this last issue, which devolved into a desperate humanitarian catastrophe in August and September of 2017. Another two-part HKS case, Icon of Hope A / Icon of Hope B, focuses on Suu Kyi's early adult life and transformation from an expatriate living a quiet life in Oxford, England to an opposition leader and icon for democracy and human rights.)

About

Abstract

This is an abridged version of the case. This 9-page version of Seizing the Moment primarily differs from the original in omitting a 4-page section that describes the early, confusing stages of Myanmar's democratization process. This leadership case is set in the spring of 2016 and gives students the chance to grapple with the difficult challenges confronting Myanmar's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after a rapid turn of fortune took her, over a period of six years, from longtime prisoner of conscience to civilian head of state in Myanmar. The case describes the nature of Suu KyI's political role in Myanmar during her many years of house arrest and then shows how that role shifted in the years following her release. With freedom and an increase in formal power came new dilemmas, for example, whether to take an oath to a problematic Constitution, how to manage her star power vis-à-vis Myanmar President Thein Sein, and how to address intercommunal violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, an unpopular ethnic minority in Rakhine state. (See HKS case Fallen Idol? Aung San Suu Kyi & the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis for a more detailed treatment of this last issue, which devolved into a desperate humanitarian catastrophe in August and September of 2017. Another two-part HKS case, Icon of Hope A / Icon of Hope B, focuses on Suu Kyi's early adult life and transformation from an expatriate living a quiet life in Oxford, England to an opposition leader and icon for democracy and human rights.)

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