Endogenous Risk Factors of the Unification Process of Yemen and Burma: DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18847/1.11.10

Abstract

This article reconstructs the history of the socio-political processes of unification of Yemen and Burma in order to discern some similarities and differences between both countries. The key to understanding the process is threefold in both countries: (a) first, the territorial fragmentation prior to unification is analyzed: in Yemen there is a strong dual differentiation between the North and the South, and in Burma the configuration follows a model of "concentric aureoles" of diffusion of the central power; (b) second, the difficulties of the unification process are explained from this disparate territorial reality: in Yemen, this process is long and complex and takes place two decades after colonial independence, while in Burma unification occurs de facto simultaneously with independence; and (c) finally, the structural elements which were not solved in the unification are analyzed and that continue generating instability in the two countries with unequal importance. Currently, Yemen is in a clear danger of disintegration that however does not seem to occur in Burma.