How Does Myanmar Build Now?

The impending transition of power from President Thein Sein to Aung Sun Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has significant implications for Myanmar’s nascent peace process. Having failed to institutionalize the peacebuilding effort since the process was reinvigorated through a series of bilateral agreements in 2011, there remains an immediate concern that political capital will continue to be the compass and barometer for negotiations. While NLD’s overwhelming majority imbues a mandate to compromise that the USDP lacked, its predisposition towards populist sentiment may yet prove a liability in negotiations. More than anything, Myanmar must begin to broaden the scope of the peacebuilding initiative to lessen its reliance on ever-fragile high-level talks.