The minimum you must know

Myanmar (which was known as Burma, officially in English, until 1989) is an under-developed country. It's situated primarily between Bangladesh and Thailand on a Southeastern Asian coast. Myanmar also borders India and China to the North. Myanmar is at peace globally however impoverished and often lacking internal peace and calm. There were reportedly between 15 and 30 thousand casualties there in the past decade alone.

A coup d'état in 1962 brought to power a brutal Burmese military dictatorship that was able to stay in power with neutrality during the conflict between the United States and Vietnam. But junta rule was subsequently called into question by an important nationwide protest, called 8888, that was held on the 8th day of the 8th month of 1988. Countless people across the country took to the streets calling for civilian rule. The Myanmar government opened fire on peaceful Buddhist, Christian and Muslim student protestors among countless other civilians nationwide, ending over ten thousand lives. The military lost so much credibility that they were forced to hold a multiparty democratic election in 1990 that brought to power a young protest leader, and eventual Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) coalition was expected to rule the country immediately. She instead found herself held by the military within her home without cause. The military continued to control all of Myanmar's important institutions.

The oppressive government that ruled over eventual Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi called themselves the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The population was impoverished. And SLORC stole the country’s natural resources anyway, including semiprecious gemstones such as jade and teak. The country reportedly has oil and gas deposits as well. Following the eventual 1997 demise of Myanmar's corrupt junta leader, the government auspiciously renamed itself the State Peace and Development Council. But their new optimistic nomenclature did not bring peace and fairness to the country. In fact, Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest for an entire additional decade until 2010, shortly before Myanmar's first successful democratic election.

Another military leader Thein Sein took power in 2011. But this time control changed fairly through an election. He implemented a civilian government for the first time, and fully supported democracy, including freedom of the press and the country's multiparty system. But his civilian government and democratic attitude didn't end the country's poverty and substantial consequent internal turmoil.

Two democratically elected governments followed in 2016 and 2018, that were led by Htin Kyaw and Win Myint, respectively, who were both backed by Aung San Suu Kyi. However, democracy in Myanmar ended when too much instability developed there. Current head of state, Min Aung Hlaing, argued that the most recent election hadn't been sufficiently free, and that he had no choice in removing the government. He staged a military coup d'état in 2021, and has been in power ever since.

There are around fifty million people in the country. According to the United Nations, there were 1.3 million refugees and asylum seekers, and another stunning 3.5 million internally homeless people, as of December 2024. It's challenging to imagine an advanced democracy developing amidst such widespread poverty.

Aung San Suu Kyi was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize on October 14, 1991 “for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights,” and for being “an outstanding example of the power of the powerless.” Her husband and sons accepted the prize on her behalf because she was unable to leave her Myanmar home to attend an event in far away Oslo, Norway. She delivered her Nobel Lecture there around twenty years later instead.

Today Aung San Suu Kyi is a global symbol of selfless peaceful resistance to authoritarianism.