Myanmar

An article in one of Burma/Myanmar‘s local publications bore a headline that might turn some heads in the United States: “Is the President Truly Above the Commander-in-Chief?” The title “commander-in-chief” is actually a military position, designating the person who is in charge of a nation’s armed forces. In the United States, of course, the commander-in-chief […]

Myanmar/Burma — Since the conflict between the Rohingya and the Burmese government has continued since last year, almost 700,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes and into refugee camps on the border of Bangladesh. Approximately 90% of the entire people had been driven from their homes in Rakhine state, which they have occupied for […]

Bryce Dryden is a former medic from 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, who is heading out to the jungles of Burma to teach trauma medicine. He is working with Earth Mission Asia, a non-profit that has worked in the area for years, striving to build healthcare infrastructure among the Karen people in eastern Burma/Myanmar. […]

There are too many wars and conflicts around the world to keep up with. It’s difficult to stay updated on some of the conflicts that do occasionally make their way to the headlines, even just for a little bit. Firefights in Afghanistan will sometimes make the headlines, but to many consumers they look like the […]

The constitution of the United States was a revolutionary document (both literally and figuratively), and aspects of it are well known throughout the world. Different lines are debated and argued over within the United States, and it is the subject of much study and controversy. Constitutions from other countries vary from place to place — […]

Rohingya refugees just over the Myanmar/Burma border are preparing for the oncoming monsoon season, which generally hits in the summer and can last into the fall. The rains that precede the monsoons have already been hitting the refugee camps, which house just under 700,000 people. According to The International Rescue Committee, the population of the […]

Starting Tuesday, thousands of prisoners have been given amnesty from their sentencing in Myanmar/Burma. Many were released from prison, but others were not confined to a jail cell. They had been under strict “conditional release” which sort of acted like a strict probation — the “Article 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on Suspensions, […]

During the recent conflict involving the Myanmar/Burmese government and the Rohingya that has been described as ‘textbook ethnic cleansing,’ the Burmese have continuously denied the UN access to conduct an investigation regarding the claims of genocide. Reports from a myriad of aid organizations have all pointed toward massive amounts of human rights violations, including the […]

Soldiers are asked to carry out some of the most unimaginably difficult and horrifying tasks a human could be asked to do. They risk their own life and limb, they are sometimes forced to watch as their friends are slaughtered, they take lives and damage families, and they often come home wounded physically or mentally. […]

“Tribe” by Sebastian Junger has been recommended to me time and time again, but it wasn’t until last week that I finally picked it up and read it. It was recommended by veterans who said it articulated thoughts they hadn’t been able to put words to, and even explained feelings and emotions that they hadn’t […]

1988 — Imagine the streets flooded with thousands upon thousands of protesters for months on end. Imagine police stations getting ransacked, protesters continuously demanding the resignation of the country’s leader, university students starting further rioting throughout the country — imagine soldiers, under direction from the authorities, opening fire on unarmed civilians. Imagine them killing thousands. […]

De facto leader of Burma/Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has had the “Elie Wiesel Award” officially revoked on Wednesday. She was awarded this in 2012, “for her courageous leadership and great personal sacrifice in resisting tyranny and advancing the freedom and dignity of the Burmese people.” She was known throughout the country for holding out under […]