population’s constructed view of foreigners, sounding eerily similar to the way the Rohingya are viewed today. The manufactured threat put forward by the Tatmadaw, that Rohingya Muslims threaten Burmese culture and sovereignty, was cultivated in the same way the 1996 threat of foreign infiltration was. The SLORC/SPDC regime—like the Tatmadaw today—convinced the Burmese population that foreign entities (i.e., presentday Rohingya) posed the ultimate threat, thus enabling it to procure the support necessary for its continued hold on power. 98