Burma (Myanmar) is a country in crisis, and a political resolution to its problems of national unity seems unlikely to occur in the near future. The purpose of the Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) is to explain in depth the country's political crisis, while also providing detailed historical background. While paying much attention to the personalities and events of the 1962-1988 Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) period, the dictionary focuses on the events, institutions, and personalities of 1988, when a nationwide movement for democracy resulted in the collapse of the BSPP regime, and the post-1988 period, when Burma was ruled by a military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which, after 1997, changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council.