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The Diplomat (29 May 2023)

Naw Theresa

Three trends that offer a fuller and more accurate picture of the state of the country’s civil war.

Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a three-part series about Myanmar’s escalating political crisis. The first part offered an overview of the conflict, and the state of the humanitarian emergency and economic crisis affecting post-coup Myanmar, while the second part analyzed the overall conflict and the status of the two sides. This installment explores ignored undercurrents that provide a fuller picture of the civil war.

The Myanmar military’s coup in February 2021 plunged Myanmar into a state of chaos unseen since the 1950s. The junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) is struggling to impose control over vast swathes of the country. It is opposed by the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) that nominally leads a grassroots armed resistance movement comprising groups known as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and other autonomous militias. Aiding these outfits are a number of Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) that have fought against the Tatmadaw and successive central governments for decades.

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