In 1998, I wrote an academic article outlining the structure and development of Myanmar’s intelligence apparatus. In 2018, after a number of momentous changes in this field, I wrote a research paper to update this work. The following year, the paper was published as a short book by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. While I was waiting for it to appear, I produced the following summary of my findings for the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

Over the past two centuries, Myanmar (known before 1989 as Burma) has experienced almost every major system of government, from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy. For most of this period, but particularly under authoritarian governments between 1962 and 2011, these administrations were supported by powerful intelligence services. Indeed, rather than being a “police state”, as Myanmar has often been called, the country could more accurately be described an “intelligence state”.

When Myanmar was under colonial rule (1824–1948), the British relied on intelligence provided by their civil and military police forces to anticipate and respond to challenges to political, economic and social stability. As the country was conquered in three stages, a network of police posts was established, charged with wide reporting responsibilities. Soon after the fall of Mandalay in 1885, an Intelligence Branch was formed. In 1906 it was absorbed by the Criminal Investigation Department and later became Special Branch.

Most British and Indian army units were withdrawn from Myanmar after the colony was “pacified” in the 1890s. The few that remained had their usual complement of military intelligence officers but there were no real external threats and internal security remained the responsibility of the police forces. A Burma Defence Bureau was created in 1937, after the perceived failure of the police to warn of the 1930–32 Saya San rebellion, but it lacked resources and had barely begun operations before the outbreak of World War II.

During and immediately after the war, the Japanese, puppet Myanmar and British administrations drew on intelligence reports to stay informed, but the civil organisations involved were always subordinate to the relevant military authorities. After Myanmar regained its independence in 1948, its fledgling intelligence apparatus did not play a significant part in U Nu’s democratic government, although in 1951 he created a Bureau of Special Investigation to counter corruption and financial crimes.