The National Unity Government: Legitimacy and Recognition

Abstract

This chapter examines the NUG’s struggle to be recognised as the representative of the state of Myanmar. It explains the significance of recognition from legal and political perspectives and the potential consequences of recognition in terms of the battle inside Myanmar between the military and those resisting the coup. The chapter highlights ambiguity around the concept of recognition and argues that in the case of Myanmar this enabled most states – and the United Nations – to prevaricate on the question of recognition. Although there was widespread acknowledgement that the NUG possessed legitimacy, the fact that it lacked physical control of most of the country gave rise to fears that premature recognition might escalate conflict and reduce prospects for a negotiated settlement. The key question, to recognising states, was not the question of who was legitimately entitled to rule. The key question was who would ultimately prevail: the coup-leaders or the architects of the civil uprisings. The chapter concludes that the issue of recognition in post-coup Myanmar stands as yet another example, in Myanmar’s troubled post-War history, of the international community’s limitations in effecting positive change inside Myanmar.