Burma / Myanmar

  • PartnershipsIndonesian President Joko Widodo

    Southeast Asian leaders urge end of Myanmar violence, inclusive talks

    Reuters Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Indonesia called for an immediate end to violence in military-ruled Myanmar, in an effort to create a window for talks and the delivery of humanitarian aid as fighting intensifies. “We were deeply concerned with ongoing violence in Myanmar and urged the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and the use of force,” leaders…

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  • Southeast Asia

    PRC prioritizes national interests over peaceful resolution in Myanmar

    FORUM Staff The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) and Chinese government’s interests in war-torn Myanmar are largely self-serving. Since a military coup in February 2021 plunged the nation into chaos, the party’s support, which has included supplying military weapons, has fluctuated between the junta and the resistance movement, and sometimes to both simultaneously. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) generally favors…

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  • Conflicts - TensionsRussian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping speak to the media after a signing ceremony following their talks at The Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Vladimir Astapkovich, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

    PRC, Russia deepen ties amid Beijing’s unconvincing call for peace

    FORUM Staff On the heels of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dubious peace plan in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping paid a three-day visit to Moscow in March 2023. The PRC billed the trip as a “visit of friendship, cooperation and peace” as Beijing attempts to paint itself as a neutral party…

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  • Conflicts - Tensions

    Russian support for Myanmar junta ‘destabilizing’ Southeast Asia, U.S envoy says

    Reuters Russia’s backing for Myanmar’s military rulers is unacceptable and destabilizing, with Moscow’s supply of weapons helping to fuel a conflict that has become a catastrophe for the Southeast Asian country, a top United States official said in March 2023. The U.S. is concerned about the wider impact of the escalating crisis in Myanmar since a coup in February 2021…

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  • Conflicts - TensionsA woman holds a portrait of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during an anti-coup demonstration in Mandalay in March 2021.

    Women key to Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement

    Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd The military coup in Myanmar has given rise to a widespread pro-democracy movement, with women accounting for an estimated 60% of participants These women not only have assumed combat roles but also are vital to nonlethal resistance efforts. The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force Battalion 5 was the first ethnic armed organization (EAO) to form a female…

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  • Key IssuesMembers of the People’s Defence Force, the armed wing of the civilian National Unity Government opposed to Myanmar’s ruling junta, train at a camp in Kayin State, near the Myanmar-Thai border, in October 2021.

    Hope for peace, democracy inspires Myanmar resistance movement

    FORUM Staff Myanmar’s disparate resistance groups share a vision of a democratic nation and have made progress toward that end. Many observers agree: If opponents of the brutal armed forces that took over Myanmar two years ago coalesce, and international condemnation is backed by action, the ousted democratically elected government can prevail. Since the military coup February 1, 2021, the…

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  • Key Issues

    An Indo-Pacific view: 5 key issues to watch in 2023

    FORUM Staff A year that erupted with seismic events — one geological, the other geopolitical — rumbled to its close with war still raging in Europe but also with the forging of partnerships for peace in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Just weeks after an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire spewed an immense cloud of ash and…

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  • Key Issues

    ASEAN issues warning to Myanmar’s military junta

    FORUM Staff Southeast Asian leaders warned Myanmar’s military junta in November 2022 that it faces further isolation from a regional bloc unless it moves forward with a languishing peace plan nearly two years after seizing power in a coup and unleashing a bloody crackdown to quell a pro-democracy uprising. In a statement issued during its dayslong series of summits in…

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  • Key Issues

    ASEAN rebukes Myanmar’s junta for lack of progress toward peace

    FORUM Staff Myanmar’s military junta has brutally repressed political opponents and civilian protesters while largely ignoring a plan devised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to work toward peace and democratic reforms. In a communique issued in early August 2022, foreign ministers from nine members of the 10-nation bloc “expressed our concerns over the prolonged political crisis in…

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  • Key Issues

    EU, Southeast Asia to hold first full summit amid security fears

    Reuters European Union (EU) and Southeast Asian nations will hold their first full summit in December 2022, a sign that the two blocs are looking for closer ties amid concerns about security threats from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia, officials told Reuters. The summit, to be held in Brussels on December 14, 2022, is seen as a…

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