PEACEWORKS 92 Conclusion To build trust and reduce fear between citizen and state, respondents tended to prioritize media interventions, such as a participatory radio or television talk show that features state and national officials interacting with citizens. The USIP’s IONA methodology enables donors, NGOs, policymakers, and local stakeholders in conflict-affected environments to determine which media initiatives can effectively be used to help mitigate conflict and build peace. The IONA methodology offers a systematic process for integrating conflict and media assessments by considering media and nonmedia factors in the design of locally led initiatives that can help to bring about social change. In Myanmar, this hybrid approach is intended to provide a unique perspective. Although many conflict assessments have been conducted in Myanmar since 2011, as well as analyses of the media environment, few, if any, blend the two approaches. Studies focused on media or conflict can still be extremely useful, and the IONA approach complements such research in that it connects what people in Myanmar know and believe and how they act to a well-defined set of social change outcomes. The media initiatives that can be implemented by local stakeholders with the support of international donors and NGOs are then designed to specifically address these outcomes to mitigate conflict. In the first conflict described, the government of Myanmar has taken significant steps in resolving tensions between citizens and the state. The democratic process has resulted in unprecedented opposition voices in parliament, and a raft of new laws has been enacted. Nascent efforts to establish rule of law and a stronger judiciary have also emerged. Nevertheless, significant mistrust remains between the government and the people after years of control by the military, the unequal distribution of resources, and the lack of overall accountability. The resulting fear that has emerged—citizens’ fear of being marginalized and fear of those in power losing their control—is still pervasive. To build trust and reduce fear between citizen and state, interview respondents tended to prioritize media interventions, such as a participatory radio or television talk show that features state and national officials interacting with citizens who call in to the program. This media-as-tool intervention can be coupled with media trainings for government officials, media, and civil society in which they engage with each other to gain awareness about each group’s role. A combination of these initiatives (and other nonmedia projects) could continue to erode the negative attitudes and aggressive actions between citizens and the government. In the last two years, substantial progress has been made in addressing interethnic conflict in Myanmar. Steps have been made toward formal reconciliation and more than a dozen ceasefire agreements have been signed. However, the roots of conflict among ethnic groups are deep. State policies of Burmanization, unequal natural resource allocation, and political exclusion of non-Bamar ethnic groups have sowed negative stereotypes on all sides and significant mistrust among Bamar and other ethnic communities alike. To counter these stereotypes and reestablish trust, interviewees emphasized a peacebuilding television drama that could entertain and educate about “The Other.” Paired with support for community radio in non-Bamar ethnic areas and additional non-Bamar ethnic media content featured in mainstream Burmese-language media, real social change could be fostered. The conflict between Buddhists and Muslims that has taken place in Myanmar also has historical roots, but recent manifestations of intercommunal violence are especially worrying. Furthermore, the government seems poorly equipped to deal with these tensions, given that deeply entrenched beliefs about Buddhist nationalism and fears of the Islamification of Myanmar are powerful forces that bring potentially disastrous political consequences. To assist in alleviating these fears, respondents prioritized initiatives, such as the Heroes of Myanmar 34  USIP.ORG