Zaw Moe (above) is one of several hundreds of political prisoners who have been freed by Thein Sein’s nominally civilian government during the past two years, Samantha Michaels writes for The Irrawaddy:

The mass amnesties have often coincided with …

Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the leaders of Burma’s political parties that democracy assistance groups are willing to help the country’s ongoing transition, Irrawaddy reports.

“She said she recognized the process of change in Burma …

“Democracy promotion is beset by self-doubt” and facing a threat to its credibility in the face of a “democratic disconnect” between citizens and institutions in established democracies, according to a new report.

An insightful and valuable analysis from the German …

Burma’s transition process has been “a top-down affair,” The Economist notes.

“This, more than anything, distinguishes it from other recent upheavals such as the ‘people power’ revolutions of the Arab spring, the fall of communism in Europe and the …

“If Thailand has a half-deified king, Burma has an ‘uncrowned queen’” in Aung San Suu Kyi, says a leading analyst.

“I am irresistibly reminded of the halcyon days after Václav Havel became president of Czechoslovakia in 1990,” writes Timothy Garton …

The United States should give a higher priority to advancing global religious freedom as a matter of national security, says a major new survey. The persecution of people of faith is inherently dangerous because it has the effect of …

“At least 56 political prisoners have been freed in Burma, campaigners say, following the EU decision on Monday to lift the last of its sanctions,” the BBC reports:

One of those freed, activist Zaw Moe, told the BBC Burmese …

The ethnic violence jeopardizing Burma’s reform process is laying bare “an often hidden truth,” according to a must-read special report from Reuters:

Monks have played a central role in anti-Muslim unrest over the past decade. Although 42 people have …

An electric fire fault sparked the blaze that killed 13 Muslim youths in an Islamic school in Yangon today, Irrawaddy reports.

“But on the heels of widespread religious and ethnic violence last month, some fear the deaths could add …

Burma’s military will continue to play a political role in the country’s transition to democracy, says its commander in chief.

“Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing told more than 6,300 troops gathered at the parade ground in Myanmar’s isolated capital, Naypyitaw, …