Myanmar's Military Are Back: First Impressions of the Coup

Asia Matters Podcast

"Our country was a bird that was just learning to fly. Now the army broke our wings," said one activist. "What was granted by the generals is now being taken back," declared another.
It’s been a dramatic few days in Southeast Asian nation Myanmar - or Burma. The country’s military has seized power again, and arrested several of the country’s civilian leaders, including national figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi. Her party, the National League for Democracy, had won a convincing victory in elections last November.

To those who used to live under Myanmar’s decades-long military dictatorship, it’s a hugely concerning turn of events. Of course, Myanmar’s democratically-elected civilian government, including Ms Suu Kyi herself, has come under intense criticism from overseas in recent years owing to the alleged genocide of the Rohingya minority in the country’s north west.

The situation is obviously quite fluid, but we wanted to bring you analysis of these events and their background, and ask what next for Myanmar's relationship with the outside world following this dramatic move.
Joining us to do so, we are pleased to have Dr. Champa Patel (@patel_champa), head of the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House; and Tin Htar Swe (@tinhtarswe), the BBC’s former Burmese editor and now an independent analyst based in London.