Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, March 31, 2025 Two powerful earthquakes jolted and devastated Myanmar, aka Burma, causing widespread death, destruction and dislocation for a country already reeling from the effects of ongoing civil conflict. The 7.7 Scale quakes created stunning devastation in central Myanmar as well as into neighboring Thailand killing 1,700 […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, February 7, 2025 Four years following a Beijing-backed military coup which turned the clock back from an elected, if flawed, democratic government to an authoritarian and corrupt military regime, the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar/aka Burma has sunk into new socio/economic depths. Significantly, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, April 14, 2024 Burma is no stranger to conflict nor endemic ethnic clashes. Tragically the isolated Southeast Asian state, aka Myanmar, has been in the cross hairs of strife for generations, as a churning cycle of violence creates civil confrontation, refugee exodus, and a widening humanitarian disaster plagues […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, October 6, 2023 A wide swath of Asian security issues was discussed and deliberated upon during the recent UN General debate. Predictably, China and Korea dominated concerns though other concerns such as the South China Sea were largely overlooked. Speaking at the start of the 78th Assembly, President […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, September 8, 2023 It’s been two years since the fall of Afghanistan. The tragic collapse of Kabul to the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban signaled the last sordid chapter in the Biden Administration’s appalling and shambolic “withdrawal” from America’s longest military commitment. But beyond the perceived American weakness and strategic […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, May 29, 2023 It’s hardly a surprise, but an affirmation of the obvious. Burma’s military regime is being backed, supported and protected by both Russia and China. What’s new is that the specifics of this assistance have come to light in a landmark UN report uncovering the extent […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler The military junta which seized power in Burma, aka Myanmar, two years ago remains in power but is increasingly challenged by both its own citizens and targeted economic sanctions. Now a wave of international political pressures is steadily growing to force the junta from power and presumably create […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler As events in Burma, aka Myanmar, continue to spiral into a dangerous descent of bloody civil conflict this strategic Southeast Asian nation has nearly reached a tipping point. Diplomacy is needed to defuse the crisis before it spins out of control with unpredictable consequences. Amid this sense of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler More than a month after the military overthrew Burma’s elected government, the situation in the South East Asian country aka Myanmar remains “fragile and fluid,” according to the UN’s Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener. Addressing a General Assembly session on the percolating political and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Burma’s military coup d’etat overthrowing the democratically elected government has provided the stage for a new morality play in Southeast Asia. We already know the players. On the one side we see the seemingly virtuous young democracy led by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate being pushed aside by […]
