ASEAN has thus far been ineffectual, while China has leverage but has failed to act. If a negotiated end to the crisis is to happen, who will take the lead?
With the regime’s brutality on daily display, peaceful protests have largely been abandoned. Unless there’s a negotiated settlement, Myanmar looks headed for a long and bloody civil war.
An activist holds up a defaced portrait of Myanmar Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a rally against the military coup in Jakarta, Indonesia in April 2021, as the ASEAN summit was being held.
(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Will the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, start taking tougher stances against authoritarian and military regimes? Its recent treatment of Myanmar’s military ruler is promising.
Myanmar’s chair was embarrassingly empty at a recent summit, a rebuff to the military junta that took control of the country in a coup earlier this year.
ASEAN leaders attend a high-level meeting at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta earlier this year.
ANTARA FOTO/HO/ Setpres-Muchlis Jr/wpa/foc.
With hundreds now killed since the coup and civilians increasingly taking up arms against the junta, there are fears the country could be headed toward civil war.
For Narendra Modi, the Indian premier, the deal is a very welcome distraction.
ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy
The international community has gained a much greater understanding of the Myanmar military’s transnational revenue streams. Targeted sanctions can work if the world just follows the money.
Where next for the WHO?
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation and Daniel Merino, The Conversation
Plus a round-up of the coronavirus situation around the world marking one year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Listen to Episode 6 of The Conversation Weekly.
President Joko Widodo (foreground, second from right), flanked by then Vice President Jusuf Kalla, welcomes Afghan and Pakistani mullahs to the Trilateral Ulema Conference held at Bogor Palace in West Java, Indonesia.
Wahyu Putro A/Antara Foto
The countries of the ASEAN region have important roles to play in tackling the global problem of marine plastic waste.
Local fishermen take matters into their own hands to rescue dozens of Rohingya people drifting on a broken boat in waters off Lhoksukon in Aceh.
Rahmad/Antara Foto