Op-Ed / Asia 10 September 2013 1 minute A House Divided: Finding Peace in Multiethnic Myanmar Share Facebook Twitter Email Linkedin Whatsapp Save Print Also available in Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Simplified English Please note this commentary is also available in Burmese The West’s perception of Myanmar’s problems is often limited to the image of Aung San Suu Kyi’s struggle for political opening against the country’s ruling military junta. But Myanmar, or Burma as it is still known by many in the West, is ethnically and religiously complex, and the inability to reconcile those many differences led to decades of civil war with multiple ethnic insurgencies. While outright hostilities have for the most part ebbed, the grievances that have historically driven these conflicts are by no means resolved. As Myanmar now emerges from isolation, the challenges facing it are numerous and can appear overwhelming. Its top-down transition has turned the country around in a way not imagined even three years ago, but it is beset by problems as it tries to shake off years of military rule. Its weak economy is run by a bureaucracy lacking capacity. Its often distracted political class has its eyes already on the 2015 elections. In the past 18 months, as authoritarian rule has actually lifted, new freedoms have triggered a wave of anti-Muslim violence across the country. Read the full article on World Politics Review. Related Tags Contributors Jim Della-Giacoma Former Project Director, South East Asia Richard Horsey Senior Adviser, Myanmar rshorsey More for you Op-Ed / Asia Myanmar Is Fragmenting—but Not Falling Apart Originally published in Foreign Affairs Briefing / Asia Ethnic Autonomy and its Consequences in Post-coup Myanmar Also available in Also available in Burmese, Chinese, Simplified