On December 6, the world saw Myanmar’s leaders ousted by a military takeover earlier this year receive their first verdict in a series of trials. National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were both initially sentenced to four years in prison for inciting...
Burma, as Myanmar was known then, won its independence from the British in 1948. Since then, bilateral relations between the US and Myanmar can at best be described as lackluster. They have lacked what experts would call “strategic compulsions.” Western allies of the US lack strategic calculus...
On July 2, Myanmar became the only country in India’s immediate neighborhood to accuse China of interference in its internal affairs. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw or the combined armed forces of Myanmar, accused China of arming terrorist groups like the...
Bangladesh and the UN must continue to work together to improve the conditions for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees. The year 2018 was a dire and desperate year for the Rohingya minority from western Myanmar. Two-thirds of the population that had been living in western Rakhine State before the...
Displacement and human rights abuses in northern Myanmar underscore the need for international pressure on Myanmar’s military. With more than 650,000 people fleeing their homes, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority by the Myanmar military has reached unprecedented proportions. But...
Myanmar is witnessing an ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. As the world’s attention is focused on the tragedy of Aleppo, a small pocket of western Myanmar is witnessing a genocide of its own in the making. In response to recent attacks against the police by Rohingya militants, the...
The State Department’s minimization of the plight of the Rohingya is sending dangerous, mixed messages to Myanmar and its neighbors. The US State Department’s recent declaration of the Islamic State (IS) being responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including...
The ongoing religious tension fueled by extremism may become a substantial threat to Myanmar's democracy. With a new parliament sworn in and the date for selecting a new president fast approaching, Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is now tasked with laying the foundation...
The new government has its hands full in bringing a more inclusive and genuine democratic system to Myanmar. By most accounts, November 8 marked a watershed moment in Myanmar’s struggle for democracy. For a country with a long history of military rule, there are plenty of reasons for...
Myanmar’s constitution awards a quarter of its parliament to the military. But that’s not Aung San Suu Kyi’s biggest problem by a long shot. On November 8, voters went to the polls in Myanmar to elect a new parliament. The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)—Nobel Peace Prize...
With claims of genocide in Myanmar, the international community has failed to usher the country through its democratic transition. Al Jazeera English recently broadcast a documentary, which was supported by a Yale Law School report, that accused the Myanmar government of an orchestrated campaign...
Will elections on November 8 mark a watershed moment for Myanmar’s transition toward democracy? For the last six decades, Myanmar’s political history—like its neighbor, Thailand—has been volatile and authoritarian at best. It has largely existed as a one-party, military-led state since...
Genocide in Myanmar and cannibalism in South Sudan are mere trifles compared to the catastrophic forest fires in Indonesia. The brown and yellow races mingle where the borders of Bangladesh, Myanmar and India meet. Less than seven decades ago, these lands were part of the British Empire. Largely...
Genocide is the most serious charge that can be levied in international law and should not be taken lightly. The existence of persecution, severe human rights abuses and a high risk of mass atrocities has long been recognized in Myanmar. But now a newly released assessment finds “strong...
The upcoming polls represent a watershed moment for Myanmar’s emerging democracy. Myanmar’s Union Election Commission has announced that elections will go ahead on November 8 as planned, despite earlier reports of potential delays. The elections are widely expected to result in...
