Pacific Affairs: An International Review of Asia and the Pacific

Volume 76, No. 4

 

The Strings of Neutralism: Burma and the Colombo Plan
By Ademola Adeleke

 

Abstract

This article is a study in the politics of aid, focusing on Burma's participation in the Colombo Plan, an aid programme promoted by the West as a prophylactic against the resurgence of communism in South and Southeast Asia during the Cold War. At independence in 1948 the government of Burma had repudiated its Commonwealth links for a foreign policy of neutralism and nonalignment. Still, the fact that the government was desperately in need of development capital meant that it could not ignore the Colombo Plan, even though it was promoted by one of the ideological blocs in the Cold War. The article explores the intricacies involved in reconciling Burma's policy of neutralism with participation in the Colombo Plan and concludes that in general Third World countries, anxious for development aid, have little choice but to abide by the conditions set by the donors. They have to operate within the confines of the politics of aid.