After the 2021 military coup, the military junta of Myanmar faced strong international criticism and sanctions by the liberal democratic West and international organizations like the United Nations, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
As a response, the military regime chose a multipolar strategy to create a worldwide diplomatic shield by exploiting geopolitical rivalries, using anti-imperialist rhetoric, and establishing partnerships with states that view western liberal democracy negatively.
Ever since the start of the protests following the coup in 2021, the Russian state media “RIA Novosti” justified the coup, stating that the Myanmar military was the only institution able to provide unity and peace among the multi-ethnic population and calling the Myanmar Spring Revolution a Western “colour revolution”.
Similarly “Global Times”, a state-owned newspaper of China, warned the USA and other Western powers not to encourage a civil war in Myanmar. This official discourse was picked up by multiple Western anti-imperialist media outlets and authoritarian left-wing organizations. The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) pointed to Myanmar’s alignment with China and important role in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), arguing that Western imperialism is violently interfering with the initiative by attempting to overthrow the governments participating in it.
Journalist Kit Klarenberg in “The Gray Zone” described international media reports about resistance against the junta as propaganda to justify Western intervention. “Red Fire” magazine, issued by the Australian socialist organization Workers League, referred to the Spring Revolution as a pro-democracy war supported by the West, while the participants of the revolution were labelled “terrorists“. Similarly, “KATEHON”, a publication of Tsargrad Institute, described the opposition group “National Unity Government (NUG)” as a “Western backed exiled government“.
In 2024, Myanmar’s military regime announced that it will abandon the market economy and introduce a “state-run cooperative system”. Later, in the same year, the regime’s proxy political party, the “Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)”, sent its chairperson “Khin Yi” to the first General Assembly of the “For the Freedom of Nations!” movement, an inter-party movement mainly dominated by Marxist-Leninist ruling parties, which included Communist Party of China, Communist Party of Vietnam, Worker’s Party of Brazil, Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, Workers’ Party of Korea and United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
In contradiction to the interests of the Burmese diaspora inside Australia, the “Communist Party of Australia” welcomed the movement as a promising framework and new model of international relations.
Philosophical foundations of the regime’s diplomatic policy have been greatly shaped by Russian philosopher “Aleksandr Dugin”, author of the theories of Eurasianism and Fourth Political Theory. In March 2025, Dugin attended the junta-hosted “Forum on Myanmar Beyond 2025: Challenges and Opportunities in the Multipolar World,” where he delivered lectures on Eurasianism and multipolarity and referred to the Spring Revolution as a coloured revolution. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, a top leader of the regime, openly endorsed these ideas in his May 2025 interview with RT news agency.
Using the ideas of Dugin’s anti-liberal geopolitical philosophy, the regime expanded its relations with authoritarian countries, including Russia, Belarus, Iran, and China. Despite the travel sanctions imposed by the West, senior military officers made high-profile trips to other countries, participating in events such as the “2025 China Victory Day Parade” and the 80th anniversary of Russia’s Victory over Fascism. The regime has been also trying to reach out to other BRICS sub-imperialist countries. Min Aung Hlaing visited “India” from May 30 to June 3 for “International Big Cat Alliance Summit“. He also went to “Laos” on July 3, 2026, invited by President Thongloun Sisoulith of Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.
Acknowledging the rifts in the Western NATO alliance, the junta also sought to win the support of national conservative regimes in the United States and Israel. The regime even conducted lobbying, offering lobbyist Roger Stone $50,000 per month.
Echoing the same narrative as seen in authoritarian regimes of the sub-imperialist camp, Adam Dick from Ron Paul Institute condemned the BRAVE Burma Act (HR 3190) as legislation that would facilitate continuing sanctions against Myanmar, accusing it as a mean of US foreign intervention.
Those who are risking their lives for federalism and liberty disagree with Ron Paul’s rigid opposition, arguing that when it comes to Myanmar, while non-interventionism aims to restrain state power at home, applying a blanket anti-sanctions stance to Myanmar inadvertently mirrors the efforts of the junta who actively lobby against Western sanctions.
The regime in Myanmar is taking advantage of multipolarity and the BRICS sub-imperialist alliance to resist pressure from the West and fight back against the diplomacy battle put forwarded by the exiled National Unity Government (NUG), which symbolizes the hope of the people of Myanmar for a nation with a federal democracy.
Considering the way in which authoritarian alliances such as BRICS and other authoritarian western anti-imperialist organisations are aligning themselves to protect their interests and their fellow Myanmar military junta, those who believe in federalism and liberal democracy in the West have no choice but to speak out against such alliances. The revolution in Burma demands neither humanitarian aid nor neocon style intervention from Australia; what is needed is solidarity and a commitment to individual sovereignty, a market economy, federalism, and liberal democracy.
