MYANMAR, A Rebel Victory

For almost three years, Myanmar (previously known as Burma) has been engaged in a brutal conflict between the prodemocracy resistance and the countrys military regime. However, behind this is another longrunning civil war between the central government and many of the countrys ethnic minority communities a conflict that has been running since the country was first created almost eighty years ago. But as a new offensive against the military seems to be gaining ground, there are questions about whether Myanmar might not only return to democracy but whether it could also be on the verge of resolving its deeper civil war. Burma gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948. However, from the start, it was plunged into political instability. As well as the assassination of its prime minister, Aung San, the first major ethnic insurgency arose when the ethnic Karen rebelled. In the years that followed, other groups also rose up against the state especially after the military took control in 1