Rohingya Stories: History and Geopolitics in a Multipolar World

This book confronts, and redresses, the remarkable lack of understanding and knowledge about Myanmar, particularly in the West, on the backdrop to the Rohingya crisis and genocide. It provides an ethnohistorical overview, discusses the cross-border dynamics, the genocide, and UN/international responses, It focuses on the refugee camps, regional security and Rohingya repatriation issues. The book presents a much broader and rounded view beyond the ongoing crisis, highlighting perspectives both from ‘within' and 'outside' it. This unique book collates chapters by a global, diverse team of interdisciplinary scholars and experts bringing together an integrated and holistic analysis toward a better understanding of the roots of the ongoing crisis, survival and protection of the Rohingya refugees. It is useful to students, scholars and policymakers seeking to understand the complexity of the crisis, working in areas such as history, conflict/refugee studies, international affairs and regional studies, political science, sociology and anthropology.

This book confronts, and redresses, the remarkable lack of understanding and knowledge about Myanmar, particularly in the West, regarding the backdrop to the Rohingya crisis and genocide. It provides an ethnohistorical overview, discussing the cross-border dynamics, the genocide, and UN/international responses. It focuses on the refugee camps, regional security, and Rohingya repatriation issues. The book presents a broad and well-rounded view of the ongoing crisis, highlighting perspectives both from “within” and “outside” it. This unique book collates chapters by a global, diverse team of interdisciplinary scholars and experts, bringing together an integrated and holistic analysis toward a better understanding of the roots of the ongoing crisis, and the survival and protection of the Rohingya refugees. It will be useful to students, scholars, and policymakers seeking to understand the complexity of the crisis, working in areas such as history, conflict/refugee studies, international affairs and regional studies, political science, sociology, and anthropology.

Mohammad Zaman holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology (Manitoba, 1988). Dr. Zaman has taught in universities in Bangladesh, Canada, China and the United States. He is an internationally known development/resettlement specialist with over 30 years of work experience in many countries in Asia and Africa. Currently, Dr. Zaman is an advisory professor at NRCR, Hohai University, Nanjing, China. He has authored numerous publications in scholarly journals in anthropology and area/development studies. His most recent edited book (co-editors Reshmy Nair and Shi Guoqing) is titled Resettlement in Asian Countries: Legislation, Administration and Struggles for Rights (Routledge, 2022).

Robert Anderson completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Chicago in 1971 and began working with refugees in Bangladesh in 1972. He has published widely about rice cultivation systems, tropical forestry and botanical gardens, indigenous peoples and international development capital (e.g. World Bank) and the nuclear history of South Asia (he was for many years a reviewer of new books on nuclear affairs in South Asia in the journal Pacific Affairs). He has been studying Rohingya affairs since 1973.  

Kawser Ahmed received Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Manitoba, 2017) and completed his SSHRC post-doctoral fellowship from University of Winnipeg in 2019. He currently teaches at Political Science department of University of Winnipeg and Conflict Resolution at the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), Winnipeg, MB. He has led numerous research projects from his not for profit, charitable think tank—CRRIC in the past. It includes multi-year funded project from Public Safety, Canada, and Department of Heritage, Canada. He also implemented several education projects from Rohingya female adolescents in Bangladesh refugee camps.