News reports regarding Myanmar (formerly Burma) include disturbing descriptions: deadly clashes, refugees, starvation, rape and ethnic cleansing. While the crisis has been mounting for almost 20 years, only now are international news headlines—“Asian Darfur,” “Forgotten Crisis,” “The Silent Genocide”—bringing the world’s attention to Myanmar’s ever-worsening conditions. And only now are the world’s leading nations beginning to address (to varying degrees) the nightmarish state of affairs. Why?

Myanmar is a case study of disorder and chaos, an example of how and why governments—democracies, monarchies, totalitarian theocracies, socialist states, communist regimes, dictatorships and others—are failing, even breaking down.

This five-part series examines the cause—the underlying reasons—for Myanmar’s current turmoil, and identifies the ultimate solution to its troubles.