Aung San Suu Kyi Archives

Myanmar: could defecting security forces bring down the military regime?

Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex Just over ten years ago there were hopes that Myanmar might become a fully functioning democracy. Today there are concerns that the country may disintegrate into civil war. The widespread opposition to the military’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters also includes possibly as many as three-quarters of the soldiers in Myanmar’s army, according to an …

Myanmar: weak leadership is prompting grassroots activists to make a difference

Marte Nilsen, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Benjamin Dix, SOAS, University of London Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy secured yet another large majority in the Myanmar parliament in the national election. But, despite the Nobel peace laureate’s party being in power since 2015, progress in the war-torn and troubled country remains hampered by both structural restraints …

Why Myanmar’s election is unlikely to herald major political reform or support transition to democracy

DB Subedi, University of New England Over 37 million Myanmar citizens, including 5 million first-time voters, will go to the polls on November 8. The election represents a litmus test for the popularity of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was placed under a house arrest by the military for about 15 years intermittently between …