Burma/Myanmar lies at the crossroads of South, East and Southeast Asia and has thus always been affected by neighbouring powers and their strategic manoeuvrings for becoming regional hegemons. While the west and south were historically under India's cultural influence, the northern and eastern hills are ethnically related to various Chinese populations. In light of these geopolitical realities, this paper scrutinises how the policies of great powers have shaped its political matrix; it traces the rise and fall of various Chinese dynasties and their repercussions, the coming of the British and their intense rivalry with the French in the nineteenth century, its regional impact and the resultant incorporation of the country into the British Empire. The paper also examines the current political scenario marked by the increasing rivalry between two Asian powers—a rising China and an emerging India—in their quest for regional supremacy.
