Letter From the Editors

Welcome to the March 2024 issue of The Diplomat Magazine.

Change makes headlines, but continuity often lurks behind what seem to be notable shifts. In this issue, we look at the interplay between continuity and change, whether on the battlefields of Myanmar, in the political arena in Kazakhstan, or in the foreign policy of Bhutan. 

Three years after the coup, and over four months after a major ethnic armed organization (EAO) military operation began, Myanmar under Min Aung Hlaing seems locked into perpetual conflict. As Thomas Kean, a journalist and researcher who has worked on Myanmar since 2008, writes in this month’s cover story, Min Aung Hlaing’s continued leadership may very well be a boon for the military’s many opponents, including EAOs and the National Unity Government. Min Aung Hlaing’s missteps have paved the way for military gains by resistance groups. From expected quarters of dissent to even pro-regime protesters urging Min Aung Hlaing to step down, the junta leader has many foes.

In March 2019, Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev – Leader of the Nation, Elbasy – resigned and passed power to his protege, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Nazarbayev’s resignation was unprecedented, Luca Anceschi, a professor in Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow, writes. But leadership change did not necessitate regime transformation. In 2024, five years after Nazarbayev stepped down and two years after one of the most dramatic weeks experienced by the country since independence –  January 2022’s Qandy Qantar – Kazakhstan is still led by an elderly man who heads an authoritarian, kleptocratic regime and presides over a struggling economy.

Bhutan has long sought to balance relations with its giant neighbors, India and China, explains Passang Dorji, a scholar on Bhutan and Nepal and their relations with China and India. While Bhutan doesn’t have formal diplomatic relations with China – largely due to India’s discomfort with the idea – the prospect of a normalized relationship with Beijing is looming larger, provided Bhutan can untangle the knot of the border dispute. As Dorji notes, getting the balance right is a critical question for Bhutan: “Thimphu’s efforts to ensure predictable ties with China and India – and between them – are linked to its very survival.”

We hope you enjoy these stories, and the many more in the following pages.