Peace can become political when advocates oppose or try to reform governments and societies pursuing hostile foreign relations — or when these societies perpetuate injustice and oppression at home.
A pointless reduction in the jail sentences for Myanmar’s democratically elected leaders is unlikely to quell the fires of opposition now burning across the country.
Myanmar’s two-year resistance to the brutal military regime barely registers in the West. But Ukraine shows that Western military force can be successfully used to support a democracy under siege.
While we should be extremely thankful that some political prisoners are being released from Myanmar’s jails, we should also recognise they should never have been there in the first place.
Myanmar’s military junta is losing some control over the country, but its execution of four high-profile leaders and prisoners sends a warning to Myanmar citizens and the rest of the world.
Will the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, start taking tougher stances against authoritarian and military regimes? Its recent treatment of Myanmar’s military ruler is promising.
Myanmar’s chair was embarrassingly empty at a recent summit, a rebuff to the military junta that took control of the country in a coup earlier this year.
Myanmar’s government in exile is courting the international community to try to gain recognition over the military junta. The UN seat could be a key prize in that fight.
COVID is running rampant in Myanmar, where the military junta has been accused of arresting doctors and weaponising the pandemic. The result could be catastrophic for the entire region.
With hundreds now killed since the coup and civilians increasingly taking up arms against the junta, there are fears the country could be headed toward civil war.
Myanmar’s culture values men over women – and the military, which staged a Feb. 1 coup, brutally enforces the patriarchy. But Gen Z democracy activists are busting stereotypes with their struggle.