Burma: The generals strike back

Abstract

In November 2020, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the Burmese general elections by a landslide that even improved on its impressive triumph five years earlier. The NLD's victory signaled to the Burmese generals—who had ruled the country for half a century and then reluctantly shared power with civilians since 2016—that their ambition to form a government legally was unrealistic, and they responded by staging a coup. This essay explains the reasons for the NLD's massive electoral win—rooted in the enduring and growing popularity of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi—and focuses on five motivating forces that once again led the military to overthrow Burma's legally elected government.