2026-06-26 –, Room 204 PC Desk (Seats 30)
The post-globalization era is increasingly characterized by hardened borders, geopolitical fragmentation, and the retreat of liberal internationalism. Myanmar offers a compelling case through which to examine this paradox. Following the 2021 military coup, the country faced intensified political isolation, international sanctions, border securitization, and diplomatic marginalization. Yet this paper argues that, despite conditions of apparent closure, Myanmar has remained deeply embedded in regional and global networks, revealing the persistence of global connections beyond formal globalization. Adopting a world history and global history perspective, the study analyzes Myanmar as a site where coercive state authority and transnational connectivity coexist. It demonstrates how trade flows, illicit and informal economies, cross-border labor migration, digital communication, resource extraction—including rare earth minerals—and regional supply chains continue to link Myanmar to South Asia, Southeast Asia, and global markets. These connections increasingly operate through non-liberal, asymmetric, and securitized channels rather than through open borders or multilateral frameworks. Placing contemporary Myanmar within a longer historical trajectory, the paper compares the current moment with earlier periods of restricted mobility and political closure, including colonial border regimes, Cold War alignments, and post-independence authoritarian governance. This comparison shows that Myanmar has historically been “globally connected without being globally integrated,” challenging linear narratives of globalization followed by deglobalization.The paper advances the concept of “coerced globality,” in which global connections persist through violence, informality, and geopolitical necessity rather than through voluntary integration. Myanmar’s experience demonstrates that closed borders do not eliminate global interdependence; instead, they transform its forms, actors, and power hierarchies. By foregrounding Myanmar, this study contributes to debates in world history about how globality survives and mutates under authoritarianism, sanctions, and border closures in the twenty-first century.
Myanmar, Global History, Borders, Post-Globalization, Connectivity, Southeast Asia
Amar Kumar is an Indian researcher and academic writer specializing in international relations, global history, political economy, and geopolitics. His work focuses on the intersection of institutions, power, borders, and global connections, with particular attention to Asia, South Asia, and the Indo-Pacific region. He has a strong interest in themes such as post-globalization, sovereignty, counter-terrorism, maritime strategy, rare earth geopolitics, and comparative political systems.
Amar Kumar has contributed to a wide range of research papers, policy-oriented writings, and conference abstracts, often employing world history, global history, neoclassical realism, and institutional political economy as analytical frameworks. His research engages with contemporary global challenges including geopolitical fragmentation, authoritarianism, information warfare, and climate-linked resource competition.
He has prepared academic work for international conferences and scholarly forums, including themes aligned with the World History Association and International Economic Association, and regularly writes in both English and Hindi, making complex theoretical debates accessible to wider audiences.
His ongoing academic interests include Asia’s development experience, border regimes, global connectivity under sanctions, and the role of institutions in shaping long-term prosperity and stability.
forthcoming