Myanmar Country Essay

COUNTRY PROFILE

Myanmar, previously known as Burma, is a parliamentary republic with high military influence located in southeast Asia. The current president is Htin Kyaw for the National League for Democracy, a social-democratic and liberal party (“Myanmar Country Profile”). Despite the leading party being the NDL, only 75% of the House of Nationalists in Myanmar are democratically elected. Instead, the constitution forces 25% to be military appointed representatives, allowing the military to retain a level of control over the nation (Tarabay).

Currently, Myanmar is undergoing much political and religious tension. Due to this, their allies are dwindling in numbers. In fact, Myanmar finds its only allies with China, India, Russia and

While there are nations such as China who side with the Myanmar government, stating they should handle the military cleansing themselves, there has also been great backlash against the government, specifically Suu Kyi. In fact, due to her inaction, Suu Kyi has been stripped of several human rights awards, including her Freedom of the City of Oxford Award (Koran). Other nations and organizations have also spoken out against Myanmar such as the US, UK and UN Security Council. The US and UK have also arms embargoed against the nation

Agriculture is recovering from the previous year’s flooding and increased international pricing for crops is proving beneficial for the agriculture-based economy of Myanmar. An expansion of the tourism industry and telecommunications has also been favourable for the country's economy (“Myanmar: Year in Review 2017”) .

Despite the predicted economic growth, rising international tensions regarding the Rohingya Muslims may negatively impact foreign direct investment and overall capital inflows. However, it is currently too soon to make the conflict’s economic impact clear (“Myanmar: Economy”).

FUTURE CONFLICT/ RESOLUTION Due to the media sensationalization of the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, it is apparent that in 2018 this conflict will be the centre of Myanmar's politics, society and potentially economics. Pressures from the West and the UN Security Council and the possibility of international sanctions against Myanmar threaten the country’s stability and democracy (Tarabay). Further, if the conflict escalates outside of Rakhine, where they have been occurring, all Muslims, not just the Rohingya, and Buddhist relations in the country will be threatened. In 2017, the Rohingya ethnic cleansing came onto the world stage, and it does not appear to be leaving any time