[OPINION] Expanding armies, shrinking peace: Militarization in Southeast Asia

Several nations in Southeast Asia have undergone military expansion and increased securitization over the past decade contributing to what many observers describe as a regional arms race. The ongoing militarization in Southeast Asia, combined with the erosion of the liberal international order and the weakening of democratic and human rights norms, has contributed to a self-reinforcing cycle of violence involving state militaries and domestic armed oppositions. Rather than addressing the political causes of conflict, military solutions prolong insecurity, intensify armed confrontation, and exacerbate human suffering in conflict-affected communities such as Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia. Myanmar’s sham peace: Promising peace,…