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Myanmar 2021 : repression and resistance in a multi-cornered conflict

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11_AM2021_Myanmar.pdf (483.3Kb)
Date
01/09/2022
Author
Fumagalli, Matteo
Keywords
Myanmar
Burma
Coup
Military
Repression
Resistance
Sanctions
Asia
Southeast Asia
Juncta
Protests
State Administration Council
National Unity Government
JQ Political institutions Asia
JZ International relations
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Abstract
The parliamentary elections of November 2020 which were won – once again – in a landslide by the National League for Democracy (NLD) were followed by three months of mounting tensions between the winning party and the Tatmadaw (the armed forces) and its party affiliate. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military deposed and arrested the sitting President and the State Counsellor, installing a junta which was quickly renamed the State Administration Council. This was Myanmar’s fourth coup in its post-independence history. Demonstrations and protests erupted across the country’s cities and villages in a nation-wide mass-opposition to the military intervention and its contempt for popular will as expressed in the elections. What followed was a combination of repression and resistance. An anti-coup movement initially dominated by NLD figures gradually turned into a more diverse social coalition, a more accurate expression of the country’s diversity and plural identities and interests. The military cracked down with increasing brutality. After a year of clashes, neither the Tatmadaw nor the National Unity Government had full control over either the people or the territory; neither could deliver services. A deadly stalemate emerged, with neither side willing to compromise, and with hardly any space for dialogue, each side denying the legitimacy of the other. The events of 2021 serve as stark and painful reminders that earlier characterisations of Myanmar along binaries (democracy versus authoritarianism, centre versus periphery) were misguided. This is a multi-cornered conflict. International response was split between Russia, which was supportive of the generals, China, which had good working relations with Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD government, and a western response framed around condemnations and sanctions, which, however, were largely ineffective.
Citation
Fumagalli , M 2022 , ' Myanmar 2021 : repression and resistance in a multi-cornered conflict ' Asia Maior , vol. XXXII , pp. 259-276 . < https://www.asiamaior.org/the-journal/asia-maior-vol-xxxii-2021/myanmar-2021-repression-and-resistance-in-a-multi-cornered-conflict.html >
Publication
Asia Maior
ISSN
2385-2526
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2022 - Viella s.r.l. & Associazione Asia Maior. . This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at https://www.asiamaior.org/the-journal/asia-maior-vol-xxxii-2021/myanmar-2021-repression-and-resistance-in-a-multi-cornered-conflict.html
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
https://www.asiamaior.org/the-journal/asia-maior-vol-xxxii-2021/myanmar-2021-repression-and-resistance-in-a-multi-cornered-conflict.html
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/26003

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