21st Century Panglong Conference Reaffirms Obstacles to Peace

On 4 September, 2016, Burma’s “21st Century Panglong Conference” concluded after four days of an exchange of opinions on the country’s protracted armed conflict and on ways forward to establish a federal democratic union. Issues ranged from the geographical composition of the Union to the formation of a federal army under the civilian government – and thus the need to amend the 2008 Constitution – through the delivery of a series of speeches, proposals and position papers. Over 1,400 delegates attended including ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), the Government, political parties, the Burma Army and third party observers […]