Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
In a recent interview with VOA via Zoom, Jason Tower, the U.S. Institute of Peace country director for Myanmar, discussed escalating transnational crime in that country, particularly...
A conversation discussing China's approach to relations in Myanmar following the Myanmar military's February 01, 2021 coup d’etat against the democratically-elected government.
A deadly stampede outside a passport office that took two lives and unending lines outside embassies - these are just some examples of what has been happening in Myanmar since the announcement...
Authoritarian regimes depend on the suppression of individual freedom, but they also require the cooperation of the very people they are engaged in oppressing.
Aaron couldn't believe his luck. An up-and-coming tech company in Thailand was offering him a dream job — a high salary, great benefits, and a way out of a bleak future in southern Africa. "I was hoping to go and work overseas. And one day, I was approached," Aaron said. "I thought everything was legit — until I got to Bangkok." At the airport...
The rapid breakdown of a Beijing-mediated cease-fire in northern Myanmar has exposed the limits of Chinese influence in the region, even as it seeks to turn recent military gains by a rebel alliance to its advantage. The "Haigeng agreement," announced January 12, was less than a day old when witnesses reported widespread gunfire in northern Shan state, bordering China. The rebel Three Brotherhood Alliance — comprising the...
It's been nearly three years since the coup in Myanmar that plunged the country into civil war - one that's left some 2 million people displaced. The fighting pits a brutal military against ethnic armed groups and post-coup resistance forces, and the military is struggling. NPR's Michael Sullivan reports from neighboring Thailand. In late October, the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance began a surprise offensive against the...
In Myanmar, a brief ceasefire between a powerful alliance of ethnic armed groups and the ruling military junta appears to have been broken just hours after it was negotiated at China’s urging. The Three Brotherhood Alliance, one of the factions fighting in a coordinated armed struggle against the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military junta), agreed to the...
Southeast Asia’s online scam hubs are drawing growing attention from governments and law enforcement agencies well beyond the region as the criminal syndicates behind them search further afield for victims of their cons and human trafficking. On December 8, the United Kingdom announced sanctions against nine people and five companies accused of trafficking people into...
Nov. 8 marked the third anniversary of elections in Myanmar, whose results were overturned by a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. The coup set in motion some of the largest, most diverse protests in the country’s history, which subsequently led to a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy activists. Today, the junta is prosecuting a war of terror, marked by airstrikes against civilians, the blocking of humanitarian aid to the...