What has Mabatha’s rise meant for minorities like the Rohingya and “differentiated citizenship” in general?

Write a concise and clear essay of about 900 to 1000 words for each of the two questions:

1) Myanmar and the rise of Mabatha extremism and the Rohingya crisis: Myanmar is a Theravada-majority country like Thailand, but for much of its modern history it has enjoyed little of the stability and prosperity of its Thai neighbor. Drawing on our class discussion and the ICG report, describe the relationship of religion and state in Burma/Myanmar from colonial times today, and then explain just how, when, and why the new variety of Mabatha Buddhist ultra-nationalism has risen. What has Mabatha’s rise meant for minorities like the Rohingya and “differentiated citizenship” in general? What is “epistemological populism” and how has it figured in Mabatha’s campaigns? How effectively has this Buddhist ultranationalist movement been challenged by democratic buddhist, like those associated with the now imprisoned, Aung San Suu Kyi?

2) Origins and development of southeast Asia from early states through the age of commerce: One of the most decisive moments in the making of early modern Southeast Asia took place in the centuries between the rise of the first “Indic” states in this region and its celebrated “age of commerce”. When and where did the first states arise? What were some of their most striking features and enduring influences on the peoples of the region? What were some of the “structural weaknesses” that made the pattern of state organization in Indic Southeast Asia so much more unstable and less well-coordinated than its counterpart in China or nearby Vietnam? What forces brought the celebrated age of commerce to end?

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