The West Isn’t Powerless in Myanmar
Neglecting the country’s slide into anarchy will only create a bigger crisis.
Myanmar’s military rulers are sowing strife.
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Two years since a coup returned the military to power in Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation has descended into chaos. Violence is surging, much of it carried out by government forces against their opponents. More than 2,900 people have been killed by the army and nearly 18,000 have been arrested. At least 1 million have been displaced within the country’s borders. Trade and currency restrictions have stifled economic growth and doubled the poverty rate, while opium production flourishes.
Home to 54 million people from more than 100 ethnic groups, Myanmar occupies a strategically important position between India and China. Disorder there threatens the stability of the broader region: worsening violence risks creating a refugee crisis akin to that of 2017, when 900,000 members of the Rohingya minority fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown. It would also strengthen the criminal organizations and drug traffickers that have thrived since the coup and have made it one of the world’s biggest sources of methamphetamine and heroin.