humanity in exchange for space in the polity for the civilian government and democracy.12 The détente that locked the military and the civilian government in an arrangement in which each preserved the existential status of the other started to shift in the wake of the military’s actions against Rohingya people in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and the ensuing response of the international community. In 2019, Gambia brought Myanmar to the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims.13 Broad international condemnation brought pressure to bear on international corporations to withdraw finance from militaryowned businesses, while the US and the EU imposed targeted sanctions on military officials and on their cronies’ private business interests.14 In the run-up to the November 2020 elections, Aung San Suu Kyi shielded the military internationally while committing to hold those responsible for any crimes to account as determined by a Myanmar investigation and through Myanmar’s own justice system.15 She thereby affirmed the sovereignty of the nation and defended the military’s role in it. The move was broadly approved at home and solidified her popularity among the country’s Bamar majority ahead of the elections. The confluence of these events put Min Aung Hlaing’s political survival and family-controlled financial interests in jeopardy. The general’s personal ambitions for the presidency were well known, and By contrast, the results of the 1990 elections were reportedly nullified when the NLD figure U Kyi Maung voiced the possibility that once the NLD came to power it might pursue prosecution of top military personnel in the international courts. 12 Priya Pillai, “The Gambia v Myanmar at the International Court of Justice: Points of Interest in the Application”, Opinion Juris, 13 November 2019, https:// opiniojuris.org/2019/11/13/the-gambia-v-myanmar-at-the-international-courtof-justice-points-of-interest-in-the-application/ (accessed 17 March 2021). 13 “US Imposes Sanctions on Myanmar’s Military Leaders over Rohingya Abuses”, The Guardian, 17 July 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ jul/17/us-imposes-sanctions-on-myanmars-military-leaders-over-rohingyaabuses (accessed 17 March 2021). 14 “Aung San Suu Kyi Defends Myanmar from Accusations of Genocide, at Top UN Court”, UN News, 11 December 2019, https://news.un.org/en/ story/2019/12/1053221 (accessed 18 March 2021). 15 5 21-J07648 01 Trends_2021-7.indd 5 28/4/21 9:34 AM