Unpacking Myanmar’s Failed Coup? A Roundtable Discussion

The military coup d’état in Myanmar on 1 February is looking more and more like a failed coup with a dwindling economy, massive worker strikes and a widespread popular resistance that is uniting people across generational, ethnic, and religious boundaries. Whatever legitimacy the military may have had before the coup is evaporating, and the generals are left with raw military power – a power that it uses to intimidate people and brutally crack down on peaceful protesters. Meanwhile the Bamar-dominated NLD and ethnic minority groups are increasingly coming together in resisting the military and pledging for a federal democratic union that recognizes ethnic equality and denounces the 2008 military-drafted constitution.

In this webinar we discuss these new political developments and what role the young protesters, the ethnic political parties and the armed groups are playing. We also look at the economic impact of the coup, and how all these developments may be affecting the loyalty of police officers and soldiers to the military junta and the prospects for desertions and splits.

Speakers:

• Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, Professor and Chair of political science, University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
• Myat The Thitsar, PhD candidate, University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
• Helene Maria Kyed, Senior researcher and head of research unit, Danish Institute for International Studies
• Liv Stoltze Gaborit, Postdoctoral researcher, Lund University and co-founder of Myanmar Action Group Denmark

​Moderator:

• Duncan McCargo, Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Professor of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen