Myanmar

Economics

Military & Security

Myanmar resistance forces launched a rocket attack on the country's second-largest city of Mandalay, targeting the Central Military Command headquarters and damaging buildings, Channel News Asia reported on Sept. 4.

Myanmar: Resistance Forces Target Second-Largest City

China

Politics

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, Nikkei Asia reported on Aug. 15. 

China, Myanmar: China's Foreign Minister Visits Junta Leadership

Myanmar’s military-run National Defense and Security Council extended the country’s official state of emergency for another six months, Nikkei Asia reported on July 31.

Myanmar: Governing Junta Extends State of Emergency

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began their annual meeting on July 25 in Vientiane, Laos, Nikkei Asia has reported.

ASEAN: Foreign Ministers Meet in Laos for Annual Summit

Bangladesh

India

Energy

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Countries across South and Southeast Asia are issuing extreme heat warnings for at least the next three days, though likely longer, as the region grapples with an extended heat wave, portending health risks, business and school closures, and strained electric grids, VnExpress reported on April 29. 

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

The Karen National Liberation Army, one of the ethnic militias fighting the Myanmar junta, and allied People's Defense Force troops declared control over the Myawaddy township in Kayin state, Myanmar's main border town leading into Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported on April 11. 

Thailand, Myanmar: Rebels Claim Control of Key Border Crossing

The imposition of a military draft in Myanmar is prompting massive backlash among locals, with many openly proclaiming that they will defect if drafted or take other drastic measures to avoid enlistment, such as purposefully maiming themselves, Nikkei Asia reported on Feb. 14.

Myanmar: Junta To Enforce Conscription Law, Prompting Overwhelming Negative Reaction

Assessments

Members of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army ethnic armed organization train March 8, 2023, in Myanmar's northern Shan state. The resistance's push into the country's interior will further destabilize the business environment and threaten the military government's long-term survival, but the military's ability to hold out in well-defended positions means its collapse remains unlikely for the foreseeable future. 

In Myanmar, the resistance's push into the country's interior will further destabilize the business environment and threaten the military government's long-term survival, but the military's ability to hold out in well-defended positions means its collapse remains unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Myanmar Rebels Put the Junta on the Defensive in Its Heartland

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

A member of the Karenni Revolutionary Union (KRU) is seen in the back of a pick-up truck on May 10, 2023, in Kayah State, Myanmar.

While it may never be able to retake all rebel-seized territory, the country's junta will likely maintain control of major urban areas, portending several more years of bloody civil war.

In Myanmar, Rebels Make Advances, but Peace Remains a Distant Prospect

Snapshots

United States

Regional leaders pose for a group photo before the ASEAN-Australia summit, held as part of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 7, 2023. From left to right stand the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

U.S.-China Relations

ASEAN's most recent summit underscored chronic passivity within the bloc that will only worsen in 2024. 

Amid ASEAN's Inaction, the Block's Members Look to External Partners for Security

A Chinese coast guard ship sails past anchored Philippine fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, on Feb. 3, 2023.

A binding code of conduct in the South China Sea remains unlikely, despite the resumption of negotiations between claimant states.

With No Deal in Sight, South China Sea Claimants Continue to Militarize

Media

Podcasts

An overview of the country's evolving conflict

Essential Geopolitics: The Outlook for Myanmar's Civil War

Anti-coup fighters escort protesters as they take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Sagaing, Myanmar, on Sept. 7, 2022. 

Two years after the 2021 military coup, the Southeast Asian country remains mired in an increasingly violent and economically disruptive civil war with no quick end in sight.

Two Years and Counting: The State of Myanmar's Post-Coup Conflict

Burkina Faso

Ghana

Guinea

Mali

Chile

Europe

Members of the Constitutional Convention pose for a picture during the official presentation of the draft they made of the new constitution on May 16, 2022, at the Ruinas de Huanchaca National Monument in Antofagasta, Chile.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: The Chilean Constitution Is Unveiled, an ECOWAS Summit

Guidance

Senegal

Brazil

France

Germany

Poland

Hungary

Ukraine

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) greets Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Nov. 14, 2019, in Brasilia, Brazil, on the sidelines of a BRICS summit. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will visit Russia on Feb. 14-17 in an effort to boost relations between the two countries.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Ukraine Conflict

The Fight for Russia’s Borderlands

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended Stratfor articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: An EU-AU Summit, the German Chancellor in Ukraine and Russia

Asia-Pacific

Protesters take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on Nov. 10, 2021. 

Security

Southeast Asia: Burdened by Consensus

Escalating clashes between the junta and resistance groups will cause the West to keep its distance from the country as East Asia probes for business opportunities.

A Year Later, Myanmar’s Post-Coup Conflict Rages On

Uzbekistan

Saudi Arabia

Members of a local election commission prepare a polling station in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Oct. 21, 2021, ahead of the country’s presidential election. 

Environmental Issues

The Weekly Rundown: An Election in Uzbekistan, ASEAN Meets Without Myanmar

The core of Myanmar is the fertile Irrawaddy River valley. The region, a long, flat area that is relatively easy to consolidate, is vulnerable to invasion from the surrounding mountains, particularly the Hengduan Mountains along the northern border with China. Invading Mongols and the now-dominant ethnic Burman, for example, twice overthrew governments in the Irrawaddy valley. Though control of Myanmar's surrounding mountains provides security for the valley's core, it can also stir conflict with the various ethnic groups that inhabit the border regions. As a result, Myanmar has never completely solidified its own territory.    The country borders Bangladesh and India to the west, but a mountain chain separates and protects it from those neighbors. To the northeast, likewise, high mountains and rugged jungle provide a formidable barrier against China. The Shan Plateau to the east poses less of a physical challenge, allowing various ethnic groups to move easily across political boundaries. Historically, the absence of a barrier has facilitated Myanmar's communication with Thailand and Laos, while also making for more frequent conflict with them.     Myanmar's location makes it a natural bridge between the Indian Ocean basin, Southeast Asia and southern China. Coupled with the country's energy resources &mdash; including oil and natural gas &mdash; its position has made it a target for foreign intervention, whether overt, as with the United Kingdom or Japan, or less direct, as with China's recent ports, pipeline and transport infrastructure projects. Foreign interference, like internal ethnic conflict, is a perennial concern for Myanmar because of its physical geography.

SITUATION REPORTS

Myanmar: Resistance Forces Target Second-Largest City

China, Myanmar: China's Foreign Minister Visits Junta Leadership

Myanmar: Governing Junta Extends State of Emergency

Myanmar: Governing Junta Extends State of Emergency

ASEAN: Foreign Ministers Meet in Laos for Annual Summit

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Thailand, Myanmar: Rebels Claim Control of Key Border Crossing

Myanmar: Junta To Enforce Conscription Law, Prompting Overwhelming Negative Reaction

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