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Thant Myint-U
@thantmyintu
Writer, historian, conservationist, & public servant, author of five books, most recently Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World
Cambridge, UK
Born January 31, 1966
Joined April 2009
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    Pleased to say that my new book will be published in Sept. Featuring the Congo & the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam & the Six Day War, it’s the story of how the newly independent nations of Africa & Asia transformed the UN and when, for a while, a global peace seemed within reach.
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    Myanmar's Permanent Representative at today's informal session of the General Assembly calls for "strongest possible action" to "restore democracy" reuters.com/article/us-mya…
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    The Myanmar army coup was meant to be a conservative reset: a rebalancing of power away from Aung San Suu Kyi. Instead, the generals may have inadvertently set off a new revolutionary era, at a time of intense social and economic upheaval. Future's up for grabs.
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    11 year old Aye Myat Thu, one of over a hundred people killed yesterday by the Myanmar security forces, was buried today in her hometown of Moulmein, together with her favourite toys, books, and a recent drawing.
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    The doors just opened to a very different future. I have a sinking feeling that no one will really be able to control what comes next. And remember Myanmar's a country awash in weapons, with deep divisions across ethnic & religious lines, where millions can barely feed themselves
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    With the right help from the rest of world, Burma has every chance to become not only a federal democracy but a peaceful, prosperous, and multicultural society. Country is at an historic inflection and there is absolutely no going back.
    Formation of the National Unity Government (NUG) #TowardFederalUnion #FederalDemocracy
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    While everyone's thinking about Myanmar politics please also think about Myanmar's poor. Over 2020 lives of tens of millions have been descending into disaster w/ poverty rates soaring from 16 - 60%. Myanmar urgently needs vaccines and an equitable economic recovery (not a coup).
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    Few things in Burma now more important that to protect journalists and their ability to continue the incredible work that have been doing over these weeks - there's no path to a better future without a free media. frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-militar…
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    My piece on Myanmar in today's @FT
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    (1) With widening arrests, increased used of lethal force, window for any peaceful resolution closing fast (2) international reactions of statements & sanctions will have no effect (3) economy at tipping point with banking paralysed & millions unlikely to receive Feb. salaries
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    The Myanmar generals have always been motivated by power not wealth. Their friends and enemies are all within the country. The rest of the world barely matters. Their creed is nationalism and their dream is to end the country's 75 year old civil war on their terms.
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    Myanmar borders on nearly half the world's population. The borders are porous. Covid in Myanmar is now out of control. A failed state can't bring Covid under control. New Myanmar Covid variants could threaten the world. Global cooperation to help Myanmar is more urgent than ever.
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    Batman today on the streets of Yangon (photo credit: @MizzimaNews)
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    If the only strategy is to arrest (or shoot) everyone who disagrees with the coup, the strategy is going to fail.
    Junta detains staff from major shopping chains at Yangon City Hall after businesses close for ‘Silent Strike’ Staff from City Mart, Orange and Sein Gay Har are all being kept overnight, relatives and colleagues said. #WhatsHappeninglnMyanmar bit.ly/3lMzJVg