Myanmar, ASEAN, and the Quest for Legitimacy: Five Years After the Coup

Five years after the 2021 military coup plunged Myanmar into a devastating polycrisis, the regime continues its quest for global and regional legitimacy. But can it be held accountable?

The coup reversed a decade of uneven but significant political and economic progress. It severely damaged the welfare of citizens, violated human and labour rights, and ignited an ongoing civil war. Now, the military regime has redoubled its efforts to gain a measure of legitimacy on the world stage.

Several regional powers have deepened engagement with the regime - most notably China and India - prioritising business and strategic interests over human rights and democratic governance. Full participation in ASEAN has become a key objective of the regime. However, ASEAN member states remain visibly divided on questions of engagement and pathways to support the resolution of the Myanmar crisis.

At the global level, the regime continues to face setbacks to its quest for legitimacy. In 2025, the International Labour Organisation used its strongest measure available to urge businesses and governments to avoid any actions or relationships that could enable rights violations perpetrated by the military regime.

This webinar will examine these global and regional dimensions of the politics of legitimacy of post-coup Myanmar. Debbie Stothard, founder/coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, will help us examine what - if anything - has changed since the formation of the "new government" after the sham election. Her analysis will form the basis for considering what expectations we should have for ASEAN and the international community's engagement with the regime going forward.

Panellists will consider whether ASEAN can hold the regime accountable to the Five-Point Consensus it agreed to in 2021, and why a cautious, conditions-based approach to reintegration may be crucial for regional stability and ASEAN's credibility.

Join us for a timely discussion on the forces shaping Myanmar's future.

Keynote speaker:

Debbie Stothard, Founder and Coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, has been a supporter of the democracy movement since 1988, when she was a student activist in Sydney.

Speaker:

Dr Michael Gillan is an Associate Professor at the UWA Business School at the University of Western Australia. His research interests encompass global union federations; transnational labour regulation; state governance and employment relations in Asia; and Myanmar’s political economy.

Convenor:

Dr Htwe Htwe Thein is an Associate Professor in International Management at the Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University in Western Australia, where she has been teaching for the last 23 years. Internationally recognised for her research on the political economy of Myanmar, she specialises in international business, responsible management in Asia, cross-cultural interactions, geopolitics, corporate governance and responsibility, and labour relations in challenging markets.

Contact the host of Myanmar, ASEAN, and the Quest for Legitimacy: Five Years After the Coup