Tom Kramer

Tom Kramer

Researcher for TNI’s Drugs & Democracy Programme

Tom Kramer (1968) is a political scientist and with over 15-years of working experience on Burma and its border regions, which he has visited regularly since 1993.  

His work focuses on developing a better understanding of the drugs market in the region as a whole, the relationship between production and consumption, and alternative development (AD). Together with the Drugs and Democracy Programme, Kramer has created a regional network of local researchers, and is also carrying out advocacy towards policy makers in the region for more sustainable and human drug policies.

Since 2005 Kramer also works on Afghanistan, with a focus onthe relationship between drugs & conflict, and the involvement of western security forces in counter narcotic activities. Apart from his work for TNI, he is also a writer and freelance consultant, specializing on ethnic conflict and civil society in Burma. He has carried out field research and written reports for a wide range of international NGOs, institutes and UN organisations.

Areas of expertise:

Drugs & conflict in Burma and Afghanistan, alternative development (AD), and harm reduction; and ethnic conflict and civil society in Burma.

Media experience:

Tom Kramer has given numerous interviews on Burma and Afghanistan for a wide range of media, including newspapers, radio (Dutch National Radio, Australian National Radio, BBC Burmese Section, Radio Free Asia), and TV (Dutch national TV, BCC World, Democratic Voice of Burma TV). He has also published various opinion articles in newspapers in the Netherlands (NRC Handelsblad, Vrij Nederland) and Asia (The Nation - Thailand).

Contact

Phone: +31 20 662 66 08
Email: tkramer AT tni dot org

Dutch (mother tongue) and English (Fluent).

Canada
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Selected publications

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Recent content by Tom Kramer

Developing Disparity

February 2013
Unless foreign direct investment in Burma's war-torn borderlands is refocused towards people-centered development, it is likely to deepen disparity between the region’s most neglected peoples and Burma's new military, business and political elite and exacerbate a decades-long civil war. 

Ending 50 years of military rule

November 2012
Burma has been under military rule since 1962. However, in 2011 a new political system was introduced and a new military-backed government inaugurated that has reached out to the democratic opposition and armed ethnic opposition groups seeking more autonomy. Both of these groups reject the new constitution, which seeks to entrench the army’s power.

Why peace and land security is key to Burma's democratic future

May 2012
Alternative Development:
Analysis of the social costs of large-scale Chinese-supported rubber farms in northern Burma suggests that the future for ordinary citizens will be affected as much by the country's chosen economic path as the political reforms underway. 

Tackle Burma's Drugs Problem

April 2012
Policy priorities should focus on how best to manage and reduce the many health and social harms associated with the reality of a persistent and ever changing drugs market. 

Financing Dispossession

February 2012
Alternative Development:
China’s opium crop substitution programme has very little to do with providing mechanisms to decrease reliance on poppy cultivation or provide alternative livelihoods for ex-poppy growers. Financing dispossession is not development.
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Civil Society Gaining Ground

November 2011
Local organisations have adopted different strategies towards the authoritarian government in Burma. Focussing on the dynamics of civil society Tom Kramer looks into the possibilities and risks of growing international interest in engagement with these groups.

Redefining Targets

December 2009
Harm reduction:
Afghanistan remains the world’s largest producer of opium and has an under-reported but growing heroin-use problem. Current drug control policies in Afghanistan are unrealistic, reflecting a need for immediate signs of hope rather than a serious analysis of the underlying causes and an effort to achieve long-term solutions.

Poppies and poverty in Afghanistan

November 2009
Alternative Development:
The opium ban in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province has forced some farmers to move to alternative crops, but many poor farmers have difficulties finding alternative sources of income.

Corruption: a ‘friend’ you can’t do without in Afghanistan

November 2009
Corruption is a part of life in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's hidden drug problem

November 2009
Afghanistan's drug problem is not simply one of opium production - there is a growing number of heroin addicts that the country is ill prepared to deal with.