Research On The Transition Of Military Regimes In South Korea,Thailand And Myanmar

Since the end of the 1940 s,with the defeat of Japan and the end of World War II,many countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia have gained national liberation and national independence.After emerging regimes tried to imitate the political system of the sovereign state but failed,many countries moved towards a military dictatorship regime and continued for many years.Today,the military rule of most countries has collapsed and entered the era of civil government.However,in some countries,soldiers are still active in the political arena.This article selects three countries,South Korea,Thailand,and Myanmar as research cases.After reviewing the history of the whole process of the establishment,transformation,and subsequent development of military regimes in the three countries,this article will focus on the participants,the choice of dominant mode,the degree of violence/compromise,the speed and scope,etc,in order to define the transformation path in three contries.Then,I use comparative historical analysis to locate the common features of political transition in three countries,the reason of different transformation path choices and the reason of different transition result.Through the small sample analysis method,this article found that moderate and willing to decentralize military reformers,emerging groups entering the political system and capable of input and output activities,and the awakening of civic awareness is the commonality that led to the transition of military regimes in South Korea,Thailand,and Myanmar.Through the method of seeking differences,it is found that because countries have different performances in variables,including bureaucratic system development,state construction,military nationalization consensus,opposition attitudes and degree of separation,people’s attitude and degree of division,and emerging groups’ opposition,which led to differentiation of the transformation path.Finally,using the time-series analysis method,it is found that the different transformation results of South Korea,Thailand,and Myanmar have long been rooted in the historical development process.If the path of the original military regime cannot be broken during the transformation process,and the civil service system is not locked and a mechanism for increasing returns is formed,then the transformation of the military regime is destined to be unsuccessful.