by Stephen Gray In an earlier blog post about our research exploring latent capacities for peace in Burma/Myanmar, I alluded to the divergent views of what “peace” means to the different parties to the conflicts that have long plagued this country. From what we have learned so far, different groups in Burma rarely respect or… read more

by Stephen Gray One expects to encounter challenging situations when researching peace and conflict in developing countries. But I wasn’t prepared for what I encountered today when I visited an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Kachin State in Burma, the country where we have been researching for the past fortnight. For me, witnessing such… read more

by Stephen Gray The experience of researching in Myanmar over the past two weeks has borne witness to a country in rapid transition. The rhetoric of Thein Sein’s reformist military government is embodied in real changes for ordinary Burmese citizens. Whereas 3 years ago pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi were banned and she could… read more

by Nikolas Katsimpras “You can either do real peacemaking work or you can get credit for it.” Those were the words of David, a leading figure of the Myanmar NGO community who has been working with the ethnic groups for twenty years. Our meeting came to an abrupt end when news came that a relative… read more

Stephen Gray Addressing the East Asia Economic Forum last week, democracy icon Aung Sung Suu Kyi’s comments hinted of the systemic shift currently underway in Burma, or Myanmar as it’s otherwise known. Speaking of her experience of flying over Bangkok on her first trip outside of the country in more than twenty years she said… read more