Military Coup D’état, State of Anarchy, and the Future of Ethnic Armed Resistance Vis-à-Vis Reconciliation in Myanmar

After decades of catastrophic economic and political repression under military rule, the people of Myanmar were expecting normalcy in 2011, as the quasi-civilian democratic government made headway toward peace and reconciliation. However, this did not last long, as the military once again staged a coup against the newly elected NLD government on February 1, 2021. Since then, Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence, and people across the nation are fighting to restore democracy. Mass protests and civil disobedience have deadlocked the country on the brink of civil war. Thus, the hopes and dreams of an inclusive and democratic Myanmar have been imprisoned and sealed away once more, and the future of the ethnic reconciliation process following the coup seems bleak. Against this backdrop, our study examines the Myanmar military’s long-standing ambitions to rule the country and its prejudices against ethnic minorities, which culminated in a military coup against Myanmar’s elected government in 2021, jeopardizing the ongoing peace processes that had been a ray of hope after years of ethnic conflict. The chapter sketches the primary factors contributing to this failed ethnic reconciliation process, such as the Burmanization of Myanmar, radical Buddhism, military hegemonic attitudes, constitutional alienation of minorities, and relentless violence and discrimination against different ethnic groups.