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The Inquiry: Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?

Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?

23/05/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?

Civil war, economic instability and a military struggling to govern. Can Myanmar survive?

An armed uprising against military leadership is in its third year. Thousands of people have died, millions have been forced from their homes. 

What’s the future for Myanmar?

In February 2024, Myanmar reactivated an old law which had been on hold for 14 years, stating adult men aged up to 35, and women up to 27 years old, must serve at least two years in the country’s armed forces. The plan is to add sixty thousand new recruits annually – and anyone caught avoiding conscription faces prison and a fine.

It’s part of the military-led government’s bid to fight back in a brutal civil war, which broke out in 2021 after its coup seized power from the democratically elected party. A violent crackdown on the peaceful public protests that followed triggered widespread armed resistance and has energised other groups who are determined to end military leadership. 

Myanmar is no stranger to internal unrest, but this latest conflict is pushing it closer to the edge. 

This week we’re asking - Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?


Contributors: 
Tin Htar Swe, Former Editor of BBC Burmese Service & freelance Myanmar consultant
Professor Michael W. Charney, Professor of Asian and Military History, SOAS, University of London
Dr David Brenner, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Sussex
Dr Min Zaw Oo, Executive Director, Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security


Production team: 
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier
Producer: Lorna Reader
Researcher: Matt Toulson
Editor: Tara McDermott

Image: A protester holds a placard with a three-finger salute in front of a military tank parked aside the street in front of the Central Bank building in Yangon, Myanmar, on 15 February 2021 (Credit: Aung Kyaw Htet/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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