Commentary
President Joe Biden on Feb. 6 renewed the national emergency with respect to the situation in Burma, also called Myanmar. This Southeast Asian country is pivotal to China’s plans for expansion in the Indian Ocean, which threatens the national security of both the United States and India.
Burma is home to 135 ethnic minorities, many of which have suffered repression and genocide at the hands of the Burman majority. In 1947, when Burma gained independence from Britain, some of the ethnic states were guaranteed that they could exit the Union of Burma if they felt their interests were not being met. When the Karen ethnic group tried to withdraw from the Union in 1949, the Burmese government refused, and fighting broke out. The war is still going on today, making it the longest-running armed conflict in the world. Over the decades, other ethnic resistance groups have joined the fight, taking up arms against the military government….