This week’s New Pubs features Peng on the enduring legacy of Kokang’s borderland mutinies; Nursyazwani on the value of the ummah for Rohingya refugees; and Tin Maung Htwe on livelihood, remittances, and social capital of Mae Sot’s Myanmar migrants.

See our Recent Publications page for all of the citations and for past weeks, and if anyone wants a PDF but is excluded by pay wall, please email us and we will help if we can.

This week’s New Pubs features Jefferson and Sinwa Naw on the consequences of penal repression on political action in Myanmar; Myint Than on the impacts of cement production development projects in Mon state; and Su Mon Thazin Aung on the Kachin and post-coup territorial self-governance.

See our Recent Publications page for all of the citations and for past weeks, and if anyone wants a PDF but is excluded by pay wall, please email us and we will help if we can.

The war from the sky: How drone warfare is shaping the conflict in Myanmar

Date: April 28, 2025 (Monday)

Time: 2:30-3:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)

Zoom here

passcode: 522994

Su Mon Thant is an expert in conflict dynamics and democracy in Asia. She works as an Asia-Pacific Senior Analyst for the international organisation Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) where she has worked since 2021. She holds an MA in Politics and International Relations from Keele University (UK) and has researched Myanmar’s politics and society for over a decade, including as an accredited observer of the 2015 and 2020 Myanmar elections. She is currently a Myanmar-Australia Visiting Fellow, supported by the University of Melbourne Myanmar Research Network and the ANU Myanmar Research Centre. Her fellowship is also partly supported by the University of Melbourne’s Initiative for Peacebuilding.

source: Australia Myanmar Institute

This week’s New Pubs features Morton’s book on the region’s pan-Akha identity and ethnic network; South on the “post-Myanmar turn” away from state-centric solutions; and Roewer on how the EU should increase support for Myanmar’s resistance.

See our Recent Publications page for all of the citations and for past weeks, and if anyone wants a PDF but is excluded by pay wall, please email us and we will help if we can.

This week’s New Pubs features Karlsson’s book on Chiang Tung borderlands; You and Zhang on how infrastructure on the China-Myanmar border affects migration; and Kolås on Rohingya identity, nationhood, and the census.

See our Recent Publications page for all of the citations and for past weeks, and if anyone wants a PDF but is excluded by pay wall, please email us and we will help if we can.

On 28 March, a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar. Its epicentre was in Sagaing Region and it was followed by multiple powerful aftershocks. Thousands have died and thousands more buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed in what is now recognised as the biggest and most consequential earthquake in Myanmar for more than a century. The worst damage and highest death toll appear to be in Sagaing and Mandalay regions, two areas with strong revolutionary spirit, ongoing armed conflict, near-daily air strikes in civilian areas, and intractable political violence. 

The alternative National Unity Government (NUG) and several ethnic armed groups declared temporary ceasefires to allow for quake relief efforts, followed by a ceasefire announcement from the military a few days later—however, air strikes and clashes have continued. Many nations, including neighboring giants China and India, have now sent aid and rescue teams into Myanmar in cooperation with the military dictatorship, and many more countries and groups have pledged humanitarian assistance through international agencies. Lasting ceasefires have followed other natural disasters and humanitarian efforts in the region, such as the devastating tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia. But they can equally do the opposite, such as in Sri Lanka, when a ceasefire broke down after the same tsunami. In military-ruled Myanmar, recent disasters such as Cyclone Nargis have only served the military’s purposes to retain control and weaponize aid. 

Will the 2025 temporary ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake lead to opportunities for long-term peace, and serve as a catalyst for political change? Or will they only exacerbate and further complicate the ongoing conflict?

In this seminar, Su Mon Thant argues that the ceasefires are unlikely to de-escalate conflict, let alone create pathways to peace. In fact, other nations’ disaster relief efforts in the country could even strengthen the junta’s international legitimacy, potentially prolonging conflict with the myriad groups and millions of people that still reject military rule in Myanmar and resist the illegal and illegitimate 2021 military coup. 

Speaker: Su Mon Thant is an expert in conflict dynamics and democracy in Asia. She works as an Asia-Pacific Senior Analyst for the international organisation Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) where she has worked since 2021. She holds an MA in Politics and International Relations from Keele University (UK) and has researched Myanmar’s politics and society for over a decade, including as an accredited observer of the 2015 and 2020 Myanmar elections. She is currently a Myanmar-Australia Visiting Fellow, supported by the University of Melbourne Myanmar Research Network and the ANU Myanmar Research Centre. Her fellowship is also partly supported by the University of Melbourne’s Initiative for Peacebuilding.

Chair: Zaw Yadanar Hein

This week’s New Pubs features Lintner’s new book on the coup; Selth on how Myanmar developed its intelligence state; and Takeda on the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand.

See our Recent Publications page for all of the citations and for past weeks, and if anyone wants a PDF but is excluded by pay wall, please email us and we will help if we can.

This week’s New Pubs features Phyu Phyu Han et al examining the people-land nexus from the Konbaung to British eras; Décobert and Wells on intermediary humanitarian actors in time of Myanmar’s crisis; and Chophy on how protestant missions transformed the Indo-Myanmar frontier.

See our Recent Publications page for all of the citations and for past weeks, and if anyone wants a PDF but is excluded by pay wall, please email us and we will help if we can.

source: Phyu Phyu Han, et al.

• Tracking the civil war: What to expect in 2025? (Keynote of the Forum)
  Morgan Michaels, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
• Myanmar’s post-coup crisis in numbers
  Su Mon Thant, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED)
• The upcoming elections: Do they matter?
  Michael Lidauer, independent researcher
• The Federal Democracy Charter: Viable pathway to peace?
  Michael Breen and Soe Htet, University of Melbourne
• Panel on rebel governance
  Zaw Tuseng, Director, Myanmar Policy Institute, New York; Su Mon Thazin Aung, Visiting Fellow, Myanmar Studies Programme, ISEAS–Yusuf Ishak Institute, Singapore; James Davies, independent analyst; and Tony Neil, London School of Economics

Are you a Myanmar researcher looking to design a new research project? Or are you developing a research proposal to apply for a PhD? The Myanmar Research Network at University of Melbourne in collaboration with the Myanmar Research Centre at Australian National University (ANU) – and with support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – invite expressions of interest for Myanmar researchers to join an online social science research skills program in May-June 2025. The program will involve three online workshops and individual mentoring sessions aimed at supporting participants to develop a research proposal fora long term research project. This could, for example, be used for applying for research funding or for a university PhD program.

Only 8 places are offered; see here to apply

Eligibility

To be eligible you must:
-Be a researcher of Myanmar nationality
-Have a postgraduate research qualification in social sciences (e.g., Masters’ degree with research thesis component, or a coursework Masters’ degree with other experience comparable to a research thesis).
-Be able to demonstrate research interests and experience in social sciences eg politics, policy, anthropology, development studies. (Expressions of interest in other fields such as medicine, law, agriculture etc will not be considered). 
-Have plans to conduct a long term social science research project (eg PhD)
-Have high-level spoken and written English

Expectations of participants

Participants will be expected to:

-Attend all workshops and mentoring sessions
-Produce an English language research project proposal – this will be short, for example 4-5 pages
-Present the research proposal to the participant group

Intended outcomes

The program is designed to support researchers:
-To develop relevant, clear and feasible research proposals
-To develop analytical skills in research design
-To meet other Myanmar social science researchers who have similar goals