Myanmar: the right place to be in the next decade?

If one takeaway of the Myanmar election of 2020 is the unquestioned adoration of the country for its icon Aung San Suu Kyi, another is surely the West’s poor understanding of this country, its ethos and its complex history. From August, while international journalists, consultants and political analysts were busy forecasting chaotic scenarios of a weakened NLD (the National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi), and speculating about unlikely coalitions with ethnic and military-backed parties, a red river of NLD flags, T-shirts and stickers (including red face masks) was flooding every corner of Myanmar, with flocks of young supporters celebrating Suu Kyi’s success weeks before the election day.