I am ethnically Asian and have previously lived in Southeast Asia for over 10 years. There is a lot of important context that is often missing from the Western narrative. It is true that Myanmar experienced economic stagnation under military rule, but that was due to the socialist policies they implemented. In the 1962 coup where they first took over, the military was actually largely supported by the citizens, who believed that their country (which had just become independent not too long ago) would benefit from strong leadership and a new national identity. The citizens were dissatisfied with the elected government at the time, and viewed it as weak, corrupt, and not prepared to solve the country’s problems.

Even as recently as 2014, polls of Burmese citizens show that 84% of them hold “very favorable” or “favorable” opinions of the military, ranking it ahead of the government and media. The most common opinion among the Burmese is that while they acknowledge that life was far from perfect under military rule, they also view their military as essential to maintaining law and order, and believe it plays an important role. The Burmese have a long and proud military history that dates back to the 9th century, when the Burmese imperial army was one of the major military forces in Southeast Asia, and they accordingly consider it an important part of their heritage.