ARI Working Paper Series

In November 2005, the Myanmar government announced its decision to relocate the national capital from Yangon to a place near Pyinmana; the place was later named Naypyitaw. This decision reveals several aspects of the Myanmar government’s security thinking. Concern for information security, defence-in-depth against possible foreign invasion, desire to get rid of the colonial past, isolating civil servants from the general public, gaining a sense of control in state-building, and the influence of traditional world views and are some plausible explanations for the relocation.