Reflections on the revolution in Myanmar

Reflections on the revolution in Myanmar 

More than three years since the military coup in Myanmar, fierce opposition to the junta continues in different forms around the country. Almost daily, there are new shifts in conflict and new episodes of junta repression, as well as stories of resistance, survival and hope. This panel event explores key aspects of the revolution in Myanmar, from the borderlands to foreign relations, presenting an up-to-date overview from different perspectives. Joining the panel will be Swe Win, editor-in-chief of independent news organisation Myanmar Now, Moe Thuzar, a Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, and Jason Tower, who leads the Burma program at the United States Institute of Peace. Each speaker will deliver a short presentation, followed by a 30-minute Q&A.

Speakers

Swe Win is the editor-in-chief at Myanmar Now, an independent news agency that produces features and investigations in both Burmese and English. He holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of Hong Kong and is a recipient of a presidential certificate of honour for social service through journalism (2016), European Union’s Schuman Award for human rights in 2017, Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2019, and the Shorenstein Journalism Award from the Stanford University in 2021.

Moe Thuzar is a Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, where she coordinates its Myanmar Studies Programme. Moe joined ISEAS in 2008, as lead researcher in the ASEAN Studies Centre up to August 2019. Prior to joining ISEAS, Moe spent ten years at the ASEAN Secretariat, where she headed the Human Development Unit from 2004 to 2007. A former diplomat, she researched Burma’s foreign policy implementation (1948-88), for her PhD at the National University of Singapore. Moe was a Fox International Fellow (2019-2020) at Yale University’s MacMillan Center during her PhD candidacy. Her research interests include Myanmar's foreign policy, ASEAN integration impacts and issues (socio-cultural areas) and ASEAN's dialogue relations. Moe co-authored, co-edited, and contributed to several compendia and edited volumes on ASEAN, and on Myanmar. 

Jason Tower is the country director for the Burma program at the United States Institute of Peace. Jason has over 20 years of experience working on conflict and security issues in China and Southeast Asia, focusing especially on peace, security, and transnational crime in Myanmar. Since 2019, Jason has led a team of experts working on the rise of criminal enclaves hosting industrial scale scamming operations in Myanmar and across the region and has published a series of reports highlighting the involvement of Chinese origin criminal groups as well as the Chinese government in these activities, and exploring the impact they have on peace and security in the region and beyond. Additionally, Jason has published more than a dozen articles analysing the impacts of the Myanmar coup, including on regional security in Asia, and on the rising influence of transnational criminal groups in Myanmar post-coup. He has deep expertise on Myanmar’s northern ethnic armed organisations, and on conflict dynamics in northern Myanmar.

Chair: David Hopkins, ANU, david.hopkins@anu.edu.au

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We look forward to seeing you there.

The ANU Myanmar Research Centre Dialogue Series is a conversation concerning current research on Myanmar aimed at providing scholars with an opportunity to present their work, try out an idea, advance an argument and critically engage with other researchers. International and Myanmar researchers from any discipline are invited to contribute. The Dialogue Series is particularly seeking to provide a space for early career researchers wishing to receive constructive feedback. Each dialogue is one hour long, including a 30-minute presentation followed by a 30-minute Q&A. As a hybrid series, the Dialogues are presented in both virtual and in-person format, hosted by the ANU Myanmar Research Centre.