As the Biden administration commits to revitalizing global democracy, the shocking rise in the number of recent coups demands an urgent response from the United States and its allies and partners. The number of coups and coup attempts in 2021 matches the highpoint for the 21st century. Despite what military juntas may claim, the current “epidemic of coups” as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called it spreads instability, undermines democratic progress and human rights and is accelerating cycles of violence in countries wracked by conflict.
The ousted civilian leader faces years in custody after being sentenced on the first of several charges. In her absence, a new generation of younger, more progressive politicians is emerging.
When a court in Myanmar on Monday sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in custody, it closed a chapter on an era of weak and compromised democracy in a Southeast Asian nation long ruled by a military fist.
But already, a new democratic movement has emerged younger, more progressive, more confrontational and ready to look beyond Suu Kyi for a guiding light. Hope now rests with an immensely popular shadow government that formed after Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, was detained by the military in a Feb. 1 coup.