either reorganize its ranks and put forward a veneer of compliance with international norms, or it would have become irrelevant in the international forum and suffer immensely at the domestic level. The recent democratization process has allowed the military to maintain control over — and manufacture support from — the civilian population with a near-absolute guarantee that the capitalist ambitions of top generals will continue to take precedence over the human rights of any group of people who threaten them. The Tatmadaw continues to masquerade as a pro-democracy political entity while behind the scenes nothing has truly changed. Factual evidence of an unofficial Tatmadaw agenda already exists in the academic dialogue surrounding Burma’s political climate and the crisis in Rakhine State. What is lacking is a contextual analysis of military ambitions and tactics historically used to secure the realization of those ambitions. The behavioral traits displayed by the Tatmadaw since the inception of the post-independence junta can be seen when examining Rohingya genocide and the social and political climate that has grown around it. 23

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