Myanmar- An Overview

 In this blog, we will be deep-diving the origins of the country of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar as well as travel within the country. Myanmar, also known as Burma is a country in Asia that borders India and China as well as Thailand and Laos. Burma has many beautiful cities such as Mandalay and Yangon. The Burmans speak Burmese and the nation is predominantly Buddhist. 

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Myanmar declared its independence from the British in 1948 and has been under military rule for the majority of the time since then.  While being under military rule, there have been many internal conflicts that have sparked a civil war in the country. The bulk of the conflict has been an ethnic conflict between the Buddhist and Muslim individuals within the country. This conflict has caused many countries around the world to advise against traveling to Myanmar unless absolutely necessary. For example, the United States has advised its citizens to steer clear of travel to Myanmar for the time being and the United Kingdom has deemed most of the country unsuitable for travel. 

            In 2021 there was a military coup in which the State Administration Council detained many leaders of the Union Solidarity and Development Party which was the party in authority at that time. In the weeks following, the people of Myanmar protested this new power which resulted in the leading power retaliating against its people. This fighting has caused massive civil unrest and has launched the country into a civil war.  Currently, the State Administration has control over Myanmar and is using abusive tactics to control the citizens of Myanmar. This has caused many countries to get involved in the fighting. 

            Over the next couple of weeks, there will be posts on this blog that will allow us to stay up to date on the fighting in Myanmar as well as to investigate the history of the country and how it led to this war. The overall goal is to learn about Myanmar and how this affects other countries. 


References:

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Cultural life. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar/Cultural-life 

Foreign, C. & D. O. (2023, July 19). Myanmar Travel Advice. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/myanmar 

Maizland, L. (n.d.). Myanmar’s troubled history: Coups, military rule, and ethnic conflict. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/myanmar-history-coup-military-rule-ethnic-conflict-rohingya 

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