Myanmar's Quest for Unity Faces Challenges

Editor's Note: This is the second installment in a four-part series on Myanmar's struggle to become a modern nation-state.

Myanmar, a country historically paralyzed by its multi-ethnicity and permeable borderland, is embarking on the long desired yet tenuous process of nation-building. The top-down political transition helped the country move out of decadeslong isolation and reintegrate with the international community. However, the lifting of authoritarian rule, the military's downgrade from sole holder of power and weak bureaucratic structures once again exposed the country's many ethnic, racial and religious divisions. This fragmentation poses a serious threat to regime security and economic prerogatives, hence Naypyidaw's core geopolitical imperative of national integrity.

The urgency of these challenges has forced Naypyidaw to prioritize a reconciliation of its many differences with ethnic insurgencies, a task it hopes to accomplish with a single national cease-fire early this year. This ambitious initiative has raised hopes for a solution to Myanmar's long-running civil war that could transform the country and its relationships with countries along its borders and beyond. However, deepening divisions and competing interests among political, legislative and military powers, along with political ambitions ahead of the 2015 general election, will bring the enforcement of the cease-fire into question. As the civilian government starts the constitutional amendment process to redefine state power while codifying the many contentious issues with ethnic forces, such as political autonomy and power sharing, Myanmar's disunity could create increased political competition, setbacks and even renewed disruptions and armed conflicts during the nation-building process.