By Courtney Weatherby President Thein Sein’s failure to fulfill his promise in July 2013 to release all remaining political prisoners by the end of the year attracted criticism from a number of international observers and human rights groups. However, there…
By Aung Din Given the power dynamics between Burma’s four key leaders ahead of the 2015 elections, political bargaining has begun in earnest. Coupled with the ruling elites’ renewed commitment to a federal structure, Burma’s ethnic parties will likely play…
By Aung Din The political landscape in Burma, also known as Myanmar, has changed since 2011 with the emergence of a purported civilian government and partially-civilian parliament. Forty-nine years of dictatorial rule was replaced by civilian governing bodies set up…
Who is he? Nay Phone Latt is a Myanmar poet, blogger, and activist best known for his role in helping bring the 2007 monk-led Saffron Revolution and subsequent government crackdown to international attention. In 2008, he was arrested and sentenced…
By Courtney Weatherby Myanmar is in the process of conducting its first census in 30 years despite concerns over its impact on increasing communal tensions between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya in western Myanmar. The government’s decision not to let…
By Julie Bishop, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs The empowerment of women and girls is one of the most effective ways to achieve higher economic growth and better living standards among the millions of people in developing countries in our region.…
Who is he? Shwe Maung, also known as Abdul Razak, is a member of Myanmar’s parliament representing Rakhine state. He is a member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and one of just two ethnic Rohingya Muslims…
By Greg Poling, Phuong Nguyen, & Courtney Weatherby Myanmar’s Constitutional Review Joint Committee, a 109-member parliamentary body tasked with reviewing potential changes to the nation’s 2008 military-drafted charter, issued its preliminary recommendations on January 31. The only significant change that…
Over the final two weeks in January the CSIS Asia team hosted more than 1,200 visitors for five public events covering issues directly connected to the Asia-Pacific including tensions in the East China Sea, the U.S.-Australia alliance, the ROK-U.S. alliance,…
By Priscilla Clapp & Aung Din The December 27 Myanmar State Gazette announced that 58 military officers with the rank of major and 3 with the rank of captain have been appointed to the Union Election Commission (UEC). According to…
