@BenedictDunant

Freelance journalist in Southeast Asia | Former editor-in-chief @FrontierMM

Joined May 2016
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Seeing some cast the regime's frivolous concessions to Aung San Suu Kyi, like letting her receive books from King Charles, as crafty propaganda ploys. The regime wishes it so. But each time it generates a fresh wave of news coverage, most of it portraying the regime negatively.
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Hard to guess at King Charles's aims but I imagine that one of them was to remind a distracted world about ASSK and Myanmar's plight. The British monarchy is (alas) a big global rand. The king wouldn't have sent gifts to an actual criminal, so the gift sends a clear signal.
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There is a seperate concern. Foreign powers may grasp at any *excuse* to wash their hands of Myanmar. Are Red Cross visits and gift packages enough for this? And would this negate the value of small freedoms granted to an 81-year-old political prisoner? Perhaps. But, debatable.
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Ben Dunant retweeted
IISS News
@IISS_orgOct 20
Myanmar’s military-backed regime has sought to restrict several sources of revenue used by its opponents, including public donations and the alleged smuggling of goods from Thailand. It has also conducted airstrikes against dozens of opposition-held gold mines but on the ground, the regime has done little to stop the flow of fuel and equipment to mining sites or the flow of mined gold to major cities. The regime's failure to clamp down is partly explained by corruption. The latest IISS research analyses how conflict has shaped Myanmar’s gold supply chain. Find out more: go.iiss.org/47ovBni
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I've spent the last few months digging into gold and its link to conflict in Myanmar. Here's the result: a 20-pager for the International Institute for Strategic Studies. I also couldn't have done it without the help of the awesome Rachel Moon. @IISS_org iiss.org/research-paper/2026…

Spoil of War: How Conflict Shapes Myanmar’s Gold Supply Chain

This case study traces Myanmar’s gold supply chain from mine to market, and reveals how the precious metal empowers armed actors, poisons the environment and divides communities whose livelihood...

iiss.org
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Despite the link to conflict, ceasefires themselves aren't much of a cure. Resource plunder is often the glue that holds together ceasefire pacts and forms of "negative peace", where politics and the economy remain firmly in the hands of armed actors.
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The only real hope is to address Myanmar's underlying crisis of legitimate authority, through a political process that, in time, can put the country's resource wealth towards a shared future.
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Brief piece for the Economist Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing has some cards to play in normalising his regime. But with dubious offers to sell rare earths, crack down on scams or take back migrants, foreign powers are slow to call his bluff. economist.com/asia/2026/10/1…

Myanmar’s dictator tries diplomacy

He has a few cards to play

economist.com
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US officials may just be using Myanmar's rare earths to get noticed by Trump. “Everyone knows the White House and president are fixated on rare earths,” says a former Washington-based official. “That’s what everyone, including me, would throw out in meetings to get attention.”
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