Only two years ago, reports about Myanmar were rife with speculation that the Tatmadaw, the Burmese term for the military, might be on its last legs. Now, five years since the junta toppled a democratically elected government on February 1, 2021 and set off a bloody civil war, that talk is all but over.
"The early-2024 speculation about regime collapse is clearly all in the rearview mirror," said Anthony Davis, an analyst with the Janes defense and security publications.
Over the past year, the military has reclaimed key towns and trade routes in the northeast that had fallen to a trio of armed groups. It has also rebuilt battalions depleted by death and desertion and conducted phased elections, which concluded on January 25.
