The world has never had a good definition of liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in need of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.
The official English name was changed by the country's government from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar in 1989, and still later to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, which since then has been the subject of controversies and mixed incidences of adoption.
The government is currently negotiating a national cease-fire with the ethnic groups. Wai Moe contributed reporting from Yangon, Myanmar. A version of this article appears in print on January 3, 2014, on page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Myanmarâs Leader Backs Change to Constitution.