Since independence from Great Britain in 1948, the modern-day state of Myanmar has remained entrapped in enduring cycles of conflict and ethno-political breakdown. Examining the upheavals around the Second World War and transition to independence, this chapter seeks to highlight how the structures and divisions under colonial rule had drastic impacts in Arakan, leaving a legacy of challenges around nationalism, identity, and conflict. In recent decades, political narratives have often focused on “Buddhist Rakhine” and “Muslim Rohingya” distinctions. But, located on a multi-ethnic crossroads, the landscape of Arakan has always reflected a broad cultural and transnational diversity. In precolonial times, Arakan was considered one of the most prosperous lands in Asia. In the present day, however, the instabilities of Myanmar continue to undermine the struggle by local peoples to establish a postcolonial state of peace, justice, and inclusion. Now one of the major conflict zones in the modern-day world, it is vital to understand how the contemporary landscape of ethno-political crisis and humanitarian emergency evolved in the crucible of turbulent events in the mid-twentieth century that were never addressed. Too often regarded as an exception, Arakan has long been an example of all that is wrong in postcolonial Myanmar, with an unrepresentative government, state failure, and unresolved divisions under military rule.