Slate has a good rundown of how newspapers decide how to refer to that long-suffering nation next to Thailand on the Bay of Bengal.
The New York Times says Myanmar, based on the idea that a country decides what it ought to be called; The Washington Post says Burma because the name change was made by the junta in 1989 and never ratified by the people. I tend to agree with the Post that name changes made by dictatorial regimes, whether for propagandistic reasons or even comparatively benign post-colonial ones, should be viewed with skepticism. Remember Bananas:
From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now… 16 years old!
