It is sad to see how low the reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar until a few days ago, sank on international social media. While Burmese citizens appealed for international solidarity in criticism toward the military coup that toppled the Suu Kyi government on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, the response of foreigners has been lackluster, to say the least. The few outspoken foreigners have instead used the sphere to criticize Suu Kyi's apathy toward the suffering of the Rohingya under her watch.
Both the appeal of the Burmese and the anger of the foreigners on social media are empirically supported. The takeover of the Burmese government by the country's military expunged a less-than-a-decade-old experiment with a flawed democracy that guarantees military independence from civilian politicians. Amidst all this, the Burmese majority continue to deny Rohingya as citizens, terming them "Bengalis" that deserve to suffer in refugee camps in Bangladesh, as they certainly have without any end in sight.
For foreign observers, Suu Kyi may be the lesser of two evils when it comes to the country's dismal records of handling minority affairs. With the military back in power and Suu Kyi back in house arrest, the suffering of all ethnic minorities, not just the Rohingya, is bound to increase. Conceded, the civilian government led by Suu Kyi has not made much progress incorporating minorities in the democratic political process or disarming a large number of ethnic armies on the country's periphery. But with the military in charge, the prospect of renewed civil war on all fronts looms, justifying ethnic armies from further investments in arms and expansion.
Yet, being the lesser of two evils was not what foreigners had hoped Suu Kyi to be when she returned to power through democratic elections in 2015. As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, she was expected to defend human rights, not just the ethnic Bamar majority, but all citizens and residents of Myanmar. Instead, she was quick to sacrifice her international reputation for the sake of domestic politics, remaining silent on Rohingya suffering to win elections. With many calling for the revocation of her Nobel Prize, her international reputation may never recover.
Such thoughts are reflected in the popular reactions to the coup among the foreign general public and media coverage. Instead of speaking about the coup as a despicable act against a popular democratic government as many Burmese citizens hope for, foreign coverage of the events has been surprisingly objective and distanced. Analyses focused on presenting the perspectives and desires of the military is doing what they have done, rather than merely portraying it in a negative light.
The apathetic popular sentiment also has seemed to trickle into the reactions of foreign politicians to the current situation in Myanmar. For instance, while the US has clearly called the events a coup, it has also shown consideration for its impact beyond Myanmar. In the quest of limiting China's expanding influence through the implementation of a unified "Indo-Pacific" strategy, dealing with the new military masters of Myanmar cannot be just sanctioning them for launching a coup.
If Western politicians were to make backroom deals with the Burmese military to prevent them from completely falling under Chinese influence, they may find themselves much less constrained by domestic politics to do so, when compared to when Suu Kyi was still under her long first house arrest. Because her international reputation is so tarnished, the Western general public now cares little if their elected politicians negotiate with the Burmese military, seeing there being few better alternatives.
Such apathy among the Western general public toward the coup may actually be a blessing for the Burmese. Instead of falling back under crippling sanctions that were in place before democratic elections happened, the country may instead become like Saudi Arabia to Western politicians and the general public, a country too important strategically and politically to dwell much on human rights issues or the lack of democracy. For Burmese citizens, this might not be the best outcome, but without an internationally supported opposition in place, it may be the best they can hope for.
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