Burma On the World Stage: Cold War Diplomacy Through Sport, 1950-1970

• In Event: “Onward! No Retreat!”: The Matters & Memory of Asia’s Conversations with Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War I

Abstract

Burma navigated several internal and external political cracks in these two critical decades of the Cold War. Caught between a militant Peoples' Republic of China and fearful of neocolonial re-engagement with the West at large, Burma's fragile coalition government under U Nu weighed the odds of its internal stability against the protection of its sovereignty, opting ultimately to court its closest political and ideological ally, and veering firmly toward a socialist commitment. This paper explores the role of sport in the development and maintenance of Burma's political courtship with China and the GDR. Through sport, Burma sought to unite its internal ethnic groups, signal its connection with the Eastern bloc, and thread a careful path along the Sino-Soviet split.

Author

• JoAnn LoSavio, Washington State U Vancouver