Australian economist Sean Turnell has released his latest book “Best Laid Plans,” detailing his efforts to lift Myanmar out of deep poverty as a policy advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi before she was ousted by a military coup in early 2021, when both of them were jailed.

He spent 650 days behind bars as Myanmar was tipped into civil war by a military that ended an all-too-brief experiment with democracy and has since proven itself as ill-prepared on the battlefield as it is on the economic front with the nation’s finances in tatters.

Turnell spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about his new book and the technocrats who lined up and prepared the country for trade and investment with the outside world, including China – a difficult country requiring a step-by-step approach – under Aung San Suu Kyi’s leadership.