Laying It On The Table: Initiating a Dialogue About Military-Ethnic Group Conflict in Myanmar

In my Ripped from the Headlines assignment, I'd like to look at ethnic conflict in Myanmar and the recent, tangible steps that have been taken to address the many aspects of this complex issue.

This article was written immediately after a 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference convened by Aung San Suu Kyi, who holds, among many others, the positions of First and Incumbent State Counsellor, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and President of the National League for Democracy of Myanmar. The purpose of the conference, on its largest scale, was to respect and formally note the grievances, requests, and demands of Tatmadaw (the Myanmar Armed Forces) and various ethnic groups, and then to -- somehow -- start moving towards a solution.

One of the major points of conflict within the conference, and maybe within the country as a whole, is the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, which was written with heavy input from Tatmadaw; while Tatmadaw representatives at the conference point out (perhaps rather redundantly) that changes to it would be unconstitutional, ethnic groups seem to be united in the idea that in its current state, the constitution does not provide a stable foundation for peace.

Difficulties at the conference, which only included ethnic groups who had agreed to "give up their weapons", ranged from large-scale, ideological impasses (such as the constitution issue) and smaller scale disputes, like seating arrangements of various ethnic groups at dinner and the recognition of Ttmadaw, but not ethnic group members, by military rank.

Nevertheless, the very attendance of eight different ethnic groups, Tatmadaw's emphasis on "the most important thing [, which] is to find common ground for a future federal Union through a negotiation process", and Aung San Suu Kyi's comment that "the most important thing is that we can agree to tackle the issues courageously" is indication that most parties are willing to take measured steps towards resolution of this issue. Due to the highly varied demands of individual ethnic groups, coming up with a solution that even partially satisfies all parties involved will surely be incredibly difficult, and I'm not even sure what form such a solution could take. Thus, as a first step, one of the essential things for both Tatmadaw and ethnic groups to do will be to focus on the potential of the country's future vs. complications in its past, as Aung San Suu Kyi mentioned.

I next want to try and determine to what degree Tatmadaw-ethnic group relations have changed as a result of the conference. There are six months until a follow-up conference.