🇲🇲 Myanmar

Myanmar (Burma) is a Southeast Asian country of 55 million in deep crisis since the February 2021 military coup that overthrew the elected government. GDP has collapsed from about $65 billion to an estimated $50 billion. The country was on a promising trajectory — economic reforms after 2011 had attracted significant foreign investment and GDP was growing at 6-7%. Now it's in a multi-front civil war, with ethnic armed organizations and the People's Defence Force fighting the military junta. Myanmar has significant natural resources — jade (the world's largest source), rubies, teak, natural gas, and rare earths. The country borders five nations and has strategic importance for both China and India.

Natural gas (piped to China and Thailand), jade and gems, garments, and agriculture (rice, beans) are the main exports. China and Thailand are the dominant trade partners. Western sanctions have targeted the military regime but have limited impact because China and regional trade continue. The kyat has lost about 60% of its value since the coup. The banking system is barely functioning, and much of the economy has shifted to informal and cash-based transactions. Foreign investment has essentially stopped.

Myanmar's jade industry is estimated at $31 billion annually — more than the country's official GDP — but most of the value is captured by military-linked companies and smuggled to China. The country's Bagan archaeological zone has over 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas spread across a plain, rivaling Angkor Wat in scale. Myanmar's Inle Lake has unique "leg-rowing" fishermen who row standing up using one leg wrapped around an oar.

Myanmar's crisis has no end in sight. The military can't win, the resistance can't yet overthrow them, and the civilian population is caught in between. The economic and humanitarian costs are mounting daily.