Min Aung Hlaing


Indonesia  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia  / United States
Time Running Out on Indonesia’s Myanmar Diplomacy
Posted On June 12, 2023
Indonesia had been among the ASEAN member-states that advocated a firm position on diplomacy with Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the plotter and leader of the February 2021 coup that overthrew the civilian government in Myanmar. It was resolute in early meetings in April of that year, where member-states gathered in Jakarta to conceive of the now-battered Five Point Consensus, and later formed a cohesive group of ASEAN member-states, which included Singapore that preferred to isolate and deny legitimacy to the military government in Naypyidaw.
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Cambodia  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
Hun Sen Has Botched Cambodia’s ASEAN Chairmanship
October 31, 2022

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s time as the ASEAN chair is running out. In a way, 2022 has been much like the previous year–particularly in the maddening context of Myanmar, where Brunei, the previous chair stumbled to the finish line after largely failed diplomacy after the February 2021 coup. In other ways, Brunei’s shepherding of the ill-fated Five-Point Consensus (FPC) and the creation of the ASEAN Special Envoy wasn’t Cambodia’s fault; Hun Sen inherited the mess. And the Security Council, already negligent on its normative duties, punted to ASEAN as early as March of 2021. Even if Hun Sen relished the international spotlight, Cambodia wasn’t exactly ready to shine. While most ASEAN states were leaning toward condemnation of the coup and essentially blocked Myanmar’s presence at the ASEAN Summit in October 2021, Hun Sen tried to bring the military junta’s leadership back into the ASEAN circle...


Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
How to Dislodge Myanmar’s Generals
February 14, 2022

Just days after the first anniversary of the February 1 coup d’état that forced Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) from power, a sharp debate has emerged among commentators and academics—whether or not Myanmar’s generals, who once held a formidable grip on power in Myanmar by constitutional design and through brute force, are now losing.


Myanmar  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Thailand’s silence on Myanmar comes at a price
February 9, 2022

As the calendar turned to February, it brought the solemn first anniversary of the 1 February 2021 military coup d’état in Myanmar, which saw the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) ousted from power.  Since then, the human toll has been severe. More than 14 million people are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance, more than 8,800 remain locked behind bars under weak or false pretenses and more than 1,500 have been killed. 


Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
Three takeaways following the ASEAN Summit on Myanmar
April 26, 2021

Myanmar’s military chief and leader of the February 1 coup d’état met with leaders from across ASEAN for three hours on Saturday, coming to a fragile and controversial five-point consensus on how to de-escalate tensions in Myanmar. While it remains too early to predict real-world changes on the ground, there are a number of key takeaways from ASEAN’s weekend meeting to consider.


Myanmar  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Can Thailand still impact the ASEAN Summit on Myanmar?
April 22, 2021

When Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha decided to opt out of the ASEAN Summit on Myanmar in Jakarta, perhaps the writing was on the wall. By sending Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai in place of Prayut, Thailand appeared to have forfeited the chance to steer any of the potential outcomes of the gathering, which seeks to find diplomatic and political solutions to the crisis in Myanmar, which has claimed more than 730 lives since the Tatmadaw launched a coup d’état on February 1.


India  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
On Myanmar, a deliberate poise
March 6, 2021

India’s neighbourhood policy is being tested like never before, thanks to an ongoing border stand-off with China, a faltering relationship with Nepal over an unusual assertion of sovereignty by the Oli government, and perpetual high tensions with Pakistan. The February 1 coup in Myanmar has only compounded matters.


Myanmar  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Thailand and Myanmar’s militaries get cozy, but at what cost?
March 4, 2021

After Myanmar Senior General and now-Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on February 1, one of his earliest acts was to compose a letter to Thai Prime Minis­ter Prayut Chan-o-cha explaining why the military had taken control and asked for help to support democracy. More than a month since the Tatmadaw took power and detained Aung San Suu Kyi, democracy appears to have been suppressed, while ties between Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar are drawing closer.


Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
Suu Kyi is not blameless in Monday’s military takeover of Myanmar
February 2, 2021

Twenty-four hours ago Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) were ousted from power by the military (Tatmadaw) in an early morning coup d’état. Journalists in Myanmar reported that phone and mobile services went dark, military vehicles were seen on city streets, and the state television network MRTV was unable to broadcast. The military declared a state of emergency that will last for a year and power has been vested in Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.