Last week I attended four university graduation ceremonies in the US with my family. At each ceremony, speakers recognized the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and many students protested the US position on Gaza. I was moved by these protests and the risks that the students were taking, and I was relieved that the speakers at least referenced these conflicts. As my family left one of the ceremonies, however, my stepmom erupted in frustration, “Why do they only recognize conflicts directly involving the West and Global North?”

She had a point – amidst the calls for divestment and Ukrainian flags, only two students waived the Haitian flag, and there was no mention of others such as Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), or Myanmar. Upon reflection, I realized my Conflict Resolution program at Georgetown is a bubble where many of these conflicts are frequent topic of discussion, but even in our specialized bubble, Myanmar is rarely mentioned. Even when I approached my friends working in policy and advocacy, I was warned that the conflict was too complex to engage with as outsiders.

During my first 3 days working and living with peacebuilders from Myanmar, I got a glimpse of the breadth of complexities of this conflict – and the conflict is certainly complex and complicated – but I have also seen how committed people are to achieving peace and equality, particularly youth, even after being blacklisted and forced to flee their country.

Less than 48 hours after stepping off the plane in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I found myself sitting at the corner of a long table in a hotel conference room. Surrounded by pink curtains with gold trim and tassels, resistance leaders, civil society organization members, and researchers from Myanmar’s Shan state passed around a microphone, each sharing their perspective on the current situation in their country and state. The fact that I do not understand a word of Burmese and only caught occasional English phrases did not lessen my awe at being at the table with people so committed to their home and people.

Those present were from several of Shan state’s many ethnic groups, and most were leaders of youth and women’s organizations. They spoke with conviction, expertise, and passion of the ways in which they were taking initiative, from conducting peacebuilding workshops, researching social change, and organizing safehouses on the border for young asylum seekers.

The young people spoke about the needs of their people and country, and everyone at the table listened. This was refreshing after having spent a semester listening to politicians and media belittle students in the US for protesting. It was also a reminder, however, of how deeply the conflict impacts every facet of society, demanding engagement and response of some kind from everyone (recently and notably through mandatory conscription, which I will discuss in a future blog), even when the conflict is on the other side of a border. The various perspectives presented, issues raised, and negotiation of ethnic tensions within the meeting also demonstrated the many layers involved in this conflict, even just with Shan state.

“Myanmar is a good conflict to study because everything is part of the conflict,” a young activist told me at the meeting. I am beginning to see what she means – Myanmar is a former colony, fraught with internal displacement, ethnic conflict, environmental injustice and degradation, internationally-funded uranium mining, ideological divergence, and a disconnect between democracy and equality struggles, to name just a few. This does not, however, mean that the conflict deserves any less attention or that the state-building efforts and various democracy and civil rights advocates need any less support.

As I write this blog over the course of my fellowship with Pa-O Youth Organization, I hope to give you, the readers, insight into some of these efforts, the context, and the people working day and night to build peace, so that you too can draw attention to this conflict alongside the others.

I was a little too jet-lagged to remember to snap a photo of the conference meeting, but here is a brainstorming session a couple days later with Pa-O Youth Organization!

Angkaew Resevoir in Chiang Mai – the landscape in this area of resembles the landscape of Shan state in Myanmar.