Under decades of military rule, the battle lines in Myanmar were stark. On one side stood Burmese generals — brutal and corrupt — arrayed against dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, the charismatic daughter of the country’s modern founder. Four years into the Southeast Asian nation’s highly praised opening to the outside world, the situation is murkier. A much-needed influx of foreign investment has driven up property prices and threatens to widen inequality. A liberated media and Internet culture have created a freewheeling arena for debate and dissent, yet also have facilitated a swell of anti-Muslim sentiment fueled by radical Buddhist monks. A reassertion of the military’s dominance remains a threat. It could be triggered by a flare-up in the country’s long-running ethnic insurgencies or a sizable loss by pro-military candidates in this month’s elections.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy is widely expected to dominate parliamentary elections Nov. 8, if the vote is free and fair. Thus far, however, she’s failed in her attempts to amend the military-written constitution, which bars her from standing for president because her children are citizens of another country, the U.K. That portends months of political wrangling ahead as the two houses of parliament and the military each nominate a presidential candidate for a parliamentary vote in early 2016. The United Nations has warned about the risk of politicians stoking anti-Muslim sentiment during campaigning. Among the Buddhist majority, prejudice against the Rohingya community — Muslims castigated as illegal immigrants and stripped of citizenship — is fierce and widespread. And a painstakingly negotiated agreement for 15 of the country’s ethnic insurgent groups to put down their arms was signed in October by only eight, casting doubt on whether the government can finally end the world’s longest civil war.
Modern Burma, as it was then known, emerged from British colonial rule after World War II and fell directly into conflict. Ethnic minorities make up a third of the population of 56 million and occupy half the country’s land, sitting on some of its most valuable resources, such as jade, gold, teak and opium.

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