AS THE conflict between Myanmar’s military and the country’s civilian population grows more acute — soldiers have been using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to clear barricaded streets — some are warning that the country could soon become Southeast Asia’s version of Syria, splintered and destroyed by civil war. But defeating the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s armed forces are known, by military means is not the objective of the political opposition, which recently named an alternative government. Rather, the resistance is centered on shutting down the country’s economy and denying the generals the revenue they need to sustain their coup.
Millions of people in Burma, as Myanmar is also known, have been making painful sacrifices to support what’s called the Civil Disobedience Movement. Government officials have refused to report to work, and strikes have paralyzed commerce. Boycotts of products produced by military companies have been widely observed; even sales of its locally produced beer have cratered. So effective has the movement been that U.N. and other international relief officials are warning that a collapsing economy may soon trigger a humanitarian catastrophe. Nevertheless, the opposition persists. Its leaders see their tactics as the only way to force the military to restore the democratically elected civilian government.
It’s an uphill struggle, and it has a chance of succeeding only if it receives sufficient international support. Myanmar’s people can cut off the military’s beer money — but only the United States and other governments can stop the flow of dollars from lucrative exports of natural resources. The Biden administration has taken some significant steps in that direction: It sanctioned two military-owned conglomerates and a gem-mining enterprise, and this week it moved against companies that export pearls and timber. On Monday, the European Union also sanctioned the conglomerates. Continue reading.