Podcasts Other The Inquiry Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?

Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?

Published: May 23, 2024, 7:06 a.m.

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\u2019s armed forces. The plan is to add sixty thousand new recruits annually \u2013 and anyone caught avoiding conscription faces prison and a fine.

It\u2019s part of the military-led government\u2019s 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\u2019re asking - Is Myanmar on the brink of collapse?

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

Production team: \nPresenter: Charmaine Cozier\nProducer: Lorna Reader\nResearcher: Matt Toulson\nEditor: 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)