International Implications of Myanmar’s Military Coup

Abstract

Myanmar's elections, held in November 2020, the National League for Democracy (NLD) emerge with a landslide victory, winning 396 of 476 parliamentary seats, allowing the party to form a government. Despite this, Myanmar's military suspected electoral fraud. As a result, the military staged a coup on January 31, 2021, seized power, placed both the State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the president Win Myint under house arrest, and imposed a year-long state of emergency in Myanmar. The coup is no longer just a domestic issue as American, European, Russian, Chinese, Indian and Japanese reactions were soon in the media. Considering the geopolitical importance of Myanmar to the interests of these powers, the research aims to assess the possible impact of this coup on the interests of the Americans, Russians, Chinese, Indians and Japanese in particular. Moreover, the research aims to analyze the possible impact of the coup on the international competition for dominance at Southeast Asia. The research argues that China, Russia, India and Japan will not be the biggest losers of the coup thanks to their pragmatic responses, but the Western powers (especially the US) could become the biggest losers if the Myanmar military does not reverse its action.