Articles | Lowy Institute

29 Aug 2024
China

Myanmar
China puts the squeeze on Myanmar’s Tatmadaw

Henry Storey

Beijing’s approach to its troublesome neighbour belies claims that it has an innate mission to promote authoritarianism aboard.
25 Jul 2024
Asean

Bangladesh

India

Myanmar

Asylum seekers and refugees
Could BIMSTEC be the answer to the Myanmar question?

Arkoprabho Hazra

With a new charter and fresh ambition, a little-known regional organisation has as big summit coming up in September.
12 Jul 2024
India

Myanmar
India’s “Act East” ambition must navigate Myanmar

Anubhav S Goswami

A surprise ministerial appointment might hint at a new diplomatic initiative.
11 Jul 2024
Myanmar
Regime collapse in Myanmar’s Rakhine

David Scott Mathieson

Ethnic armed organisations are inching their way towards the complete expulsion of junta forces in the state.
11 Jun 2024
Myanmar
Myanmar’s war within a war: Informers and the trust deficit

Andrew Selth

In a country thick with spies and informers, suspicion can be crippling. History shows that confidence is hard to win back.
20 May 2024
Myanmar
Myanmar: If sanctions aren’t the solution, what is?

Morten B. Pedersen

The local population invariably pays the price for financial punishment of the regime. So better for the world to directly support communities instead.
10 May 2024
Myanmar

Thailand
Thaksin Shinawatra’s Myanmar talks likely driven by politics and money

Craig Keating

This is not the first time the former Thai PM has showcased his supposed statesman qualities.
8 Apr 2024
Myanmar
Myanmar: Julie Bishop an inspired choice as UN Special Envoy

Morten B. Pedersen

She has status and networks, and comes from a country dedicated to peace and pragmatism.
3 Apr 2024
Myanmar
How the Myanmar regime is surviving

David Scott Mathieson

Despite some major wins by insurgent groups, the junta remains strong due to its control of arms and air power.
2 Apr 2024
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Asylum seekers and refugees
Myanmar: The junta’s forced conscription of Rohingyas

Md. Himel Rahman

The implications of this cynical act for people already oppressed could reverberate for neighbouring Bangladesh and across the region.
13 Mar 2024
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Asylum seekers and refugees

Human rights

Migration
A ring-fence around the Rohingya can’t last – Australia’s policy needs to change

Arunn Jegan

Seven years on, a temporary aid agenda is only extenuating the problem.
12 Mar 2024
Myanmar
Myanmar: What the generals hear might not be what the world means

Andrew Selth

History holds lessons for the gap between perceptions and policies.
28 Feb 2024
China

Myanmar
Could Myanmar become Beijing’s quagmire?

Henry Storey

The imperative to protect Chinese victims of transnational crime has set off a chain reaction that could jeopardise Beijing’s longer-term objectives.
22 Feb 2024
Myanmar

Human rights

International law
In defence of Aung San Suu Kyi

Derek Tonkin

Many in Myanmar have condemned what they perceive as seriously flawed Western criticism of the Burmese ex-leader.
8 Feb 2024
Asean

Myanmar

Australia
Myanmar and Australia: A partnership paved with good intentions

Moe Thuzar , Kyi Sin

Australia’s rationale for engagement has long been a hope to moderate the excesses of the regime. It does not seem to have listened.
17 Jan 2024
Myanmar
Three years on from the coup, what could help Myanmar’s opposition movement?

Andrew Selth

A range of practical measures could be taken. But the people of Myanmar seem destined to fend for themselves.
13 Dec 2023
Aid & Development

Bangladesh

Myanmar

Asylum seekers and refugees
Crunch time on Rohingya refugees

David Brewster

By bolstering assistance to Bangladesh, Australia can avoid a new source of maritime arrivals.
4 Dec 2023
Myanmar
Myanmar: The last days of the junta?

Rahman Yaacob

The rebels appear to hold all the initiative on the battlefield.
22 Nov 2023
China

Chinese Trade

Myanmar

Southeast Asia

Thailand

Trade and Investment in the Asia Pacific

Australia and Asia

Quad

Australian trade, investment & economy

Trade
Why is Myanmar’s new deep-sea port such hot property?

Shaun Cameron

An alternative route to the Strait of Malacca offers China, and others, a safer, faster and more efficient trade route.
8 Nov 2023
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Australia and Asia

Human rights
Australia’s chance to show global leadership on Rohingya displacement

Jessica Marsh

Honouring a pledge to be tough on borders without being “weak on humanity” will bolster Canberra’s aim of regional stability.
7 Nov 2023
Myanmar
Myanmar: a new abnormal

David Scott Mathieson

From enforced remittances to escalating drug use, non-conflict factors reveal a war-ravaged country in civil decline.
13 Oct 2023
Myanmar
Beware sensational claims about Myanmar’s security environment

Andrew Selth

Heavy on gossip, rumour and anecdote, too many stories about the junta-led country lack verifiable evidence.
9 Oct 2023
India

Myanmar
In Myanmar, India should also engage the opposition

Bashir Ali Abbas

Close ties with the junta risk leaving Delhi off side.
28 Sep 2023
Myanmar

Thailand
The new Thai PM has his work cut out on Myanmar

Jitsiree Thongnoi

After debuting at the UN General Assembly, the Thai PM must get to work on foreign policy issues, not least Myanmar.
20 Sep 2023
Myanmar
How credible are the casualty figures coming out of Myanmar?

Andrew Selth

The public relations war being waged in the international arena is just as important as the war being fought on the ground.
22 Aug 2023
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Migration

United Nations
Remember the Rohingya, for disease hasn’t forgotten them

Arunn Jegan

After six years, supposedly temporary camps now resemble slums. How long can the world turn away?
16 Aug 2023
Myanmar
The myth of military desperation in Myanmar

David Scott Mathieson

The junta’s favoured methods of arson and airstrikes continue to quash dissent, with no end in sight.
10 Aug 2023
Myanmar
Are Western intelligence agencies “fuelling an armed rebellion” in Myanmar?

Andrew Selth

Espionage by its nature is difficult to prove – big claims should be judged carefully before leaping to conclusions.
1 Aug 2023
Myanmar
In a meaningless gesture, Myanmar’s junta cuts Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence

Sean Turnell

The leaders of the deposed democratic government shouldn’t be in jail at all.
18 Jul 2023
Myanmar
Has history left Aung San Suu Kyi behind?

Andrew Selth

She may be imprisoned and politically weakened, but the former leader of Myanmar remains a potent symbol of power.
30 May 2023
Myanmar
Myanmar’s intelligence war: the battle of wits and wiles against the junta

Andrew Selth

In a country where spies and informers have been ever-present, the opposition has built its own intelligence apparatus.
1 May 2023
Myanmar
Chinese spy bases on Myanmar’s Great Coco Island? Here we go again

Andrew Selth

A little history should help dampen some wild speculation about eavesdropping facilities in the Indian Ocean.
5 Apr 2023
Myanmar

Russia

Ukraine

Human rights

International law

War Crimes
What of the Rohingya? The ICC, Ukraine, and limits of “international” justice

Aakash Chandran , Jennifer Keene-McCann , Emma Palmer

The International Criminal Court will always be seen as a selective tool unless states agree to decide cases on need.
22 Mar 2023
Asean

Indonesia

Myanmar

Australia
Can ASEAN forge a political solution in Myanmar?

Rebecca Barber

Indonesia and Australia have different but equally critical roles in bringing the junta to the negotiating table.
1 Feb 2023
Myanmar

Australia

Human rights
Australia’s Myanmar sanctions: now for the real decisions

Susannah Patton

Two years after the coup, there are still many reasons why Canberra is stepping cautiously with its punitive measures.
7 Dec 2022
Myanmar

Australian Foreign Aid

Migration
Australia could lead the way on Rohingya crisis

Arunn Jegan

Canberra is well placed to broker a new deal for resettling the region’s most vulnerable refugees.
15 Nov 2022
Malaysia

Myanmar

Human rights

Migration

United Nations
Refugees may become victims of Malaysia’s electoral politics

Max Walden

The plight of Myanmar Rohingyas exposes Southeast Asia’s disjointed policies and fragile human rights protections.
8 Nov 2022
Bangladesh

China

India

Myanmar
How China, India and Bangladesh could be drawn into Myanmar’s conflict

David Brewster

Rakhine state has become a de facto battleground for the competing interests of Beijing, Delhi and Dhaka.
29 Sep 2022
Myanmar

Australia
Myanmar: a desperate junta trying, and failing, to shore up its legitimacy

Adam Simpson

Sentencing Sean Turnell to jail won’t help the Myanmar junta’s international isolation or its domestic problems.
20 Sep 2022
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Human rights

International law
The Rohingya issue requires a regional solution

David Brewster

Leaving close to a million people in limbo poses a danger not only for the refugees but to regional peace.
22 Aug 2022
India

Indonesia

Myanmar

Sri Lanka

Climate change
Blue economy may be the key to South Asia's upswing

Samriddhi Roy

Why governance, blue bonds and women are critical to a thriving ocean-based economy.
2 Aug 2022
Myanmar

War Crimes

United Nations

Human rights
ASEAN governments need to act on Myanmar

Elaine Pearson

The execution of four opposition activists by the junta needs urgent action from governments of all stripes.
14 Apr 2022
Myanmar
The problem with postcards from Myanmar

JJ Rose

Borders are opening to welcome back tourists. But it’s not just Covid that poses a risk.
12 Apr 2022
Sustainability

Myanmar

Cambodia

China

Thailand

Vietnam

Laos
How the Mekong River Commission ignores reality

Milton Osborne

Nothing is worth celebrating in how a once mighty wild river has been cruelly tamed.
28 Feb 2022
Diplomacy

Myanmar

Russia

Ukraine
Australia was quick to sanction Moscow. Why not Myanmar?

Jessica Collins

It was right to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But that’s different to military aggression much closer to home.
23 Feb 2022
War Crimes

United Nations

Myanmar

Human rights

International law
It’s a mistake to allow Myanmar’s junta to appear in Rohingya case

Adam Simpson , Juliette McIntyre

Accepting military representatives in the genocide defence serves to lend the coup an undeserved legitimacy.
17 Feb 2022
Myanmar
Myanmar’s military numbers

Andrew Selth

Simply comparing the estimated number of combatants on the two sides is not a valid basis to assess combat capabilities.
16 Feb 2022
Myanmar

China
Handle with care: China’s economic engagement in Myanmar

Xue Gong

Beijing’s state-driven businesses have learned to adapt and adopt in the shadow of democratic openings and coups d’état.
10 Feb 2022
Australia

Myanmar

Human rights
Will Australia use its amended sanctions act against Myanmar?

Jessica Collins

Coordinated international pressure on the coup leaders is urgently needed to stave off a growing humanitarian crisis.
31 Jan 2022
Asean

Myanmar
ASEAN and Myanmar: No sign of progress

Roshni Kapur

Despite aiming to promote regional stability, the grouping has struggled to find consensus after the coup in Naypyidaw.