Myanmar

The armed conflict in Myanmar involves a complex set of root causes, including discriminatory policies, attempts to redefine state structures, aspirations for transformation of center-periphery relations, unjust resource management, and conflict economy. Significant changes in the conflict landscape had come about with the Burma Communist Party’s insurgency in 1950s, the democratic movement becoming a major political actor following the events of 1988, ceasefire agreements between the military government and ethnic armed groups in 1990s, the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and NLD party coming to power in 2015. Most notably, the coup in 2021 has again changed the conflict dynamics in Myanmar with new political and armed actors coming into play as resistance forces against the State Administration Council (SAC).

Our work

During the NCA period, CMI was supporting the implementation of the official peace process through advice on monitoring and security issues. The depth of CMI’s contribution going forward depends on the conflict context and the demands of the conflict parties. Amidst the current complexities, there are no simple and quick solutions to a wide-spread peace settlement in Myanmar, but that should not stop one from trying to work against the declining trend and identifying potential pathways for addressing the political issues behind the conflict.