Asian Security-final manuscript.pdf (1.31 MB)
Inside the Karen insurgency: explaining conflict and conciliation in Myanmar’s changing borderlands
Since 2012 Myanmar’s oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), has sought for considerable rapprochement with the government. To many, this seemed to be the direct outcome of wider political transition in Myanmar. This article proposes an alternative explanation. Based on extensive field research and an emerging literature on armed groups, it demonstrates that the group’s rapprochement with the government was driven by leadership struggles between two rival factions within the KNU. At the core of this contestation are shifting internal power relations, which resulted from military pressures and geopolitical transformations in the Myanmar-Thai borderlands. These findings point to significant shortcomings of Myanmar’s peace process. They also contribute to the field of Conflict and Security Studies with much needed primary source data on the internal politics of insurgency, which shows how dynamics of civil war are driven by an interplay between forces on different levels of analysis.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Asian SecurityISSN
1479-9855Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
14Page range
83-99Department affiliated with
- International Relations Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2021-09-15First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-09-16First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2021-09-14Usage metrics
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