December 2025
Download the full report
On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military launched a coup, ending the country’s limited political reform process. Myanmar’s people rose up against the military’s attempt to grab power and further shift the country towards heightened authoritarianism, first through peaceful means and then, when faced with brutal repression, through armed conflict.
The military junta has since plunged the country into a deadly civil war, and it has seen its political and territorial control significantly reduced. Yet, by using extreme brutality and receiving vital support from external actors, the junta has clung on to its deadly tactics of oppression and avoided total collapse.
As Myanmar nears the end of its fifth year of the coup, in an attempt to build control of the country’s territory and falsely gain legitimacy, the junta is attempting to orchestrate the pretense of a transition to civilian rule. The junta and its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, are engaging in diplomatic efforts to convince countries including Russia, China, India, Belarus, and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support the sham election. Domestically, the junta passed a law to outlaw protests and criticism of its sham election, with potential punishments including the death penalty.
The European Union (EU) has already denounced the “regime-sponsored elections,” and likeminded countries should follow in its footsteps, denounce the sham election, and reject the results. Moreover, though condemnation is important, the international community should go further and take meaningful steps to disrupt the junta’s brutal war on the people of Myanmar.
In preparation for its sham election, the junta rebranded its executive, legislature, and judicial body. Within a day of this change, US lobbyists were contracted to represent the junta as part of its campaign to manufacture false legitimacy. With coordinated and targeted international action, and without the support of enablers, the junta’s ability to wage its brutal war against the people of Myanmar would be significantly impaired. The junta’s continued survival is due in part to the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other likeminded states’ reluctance to adopt financial tools of pressure, including targeted network sanctions, against it and its international enablers.
Sanctioning authorities should urgently take concrete actions to disrupt and degrade the junta’s ability to wage war against the Myanmar people. With a sham election around the corner, these jurisdictions should seize the opportunity and adopt sanctions against the junta’s rebranded body and its international enablers.