The 2022 Asean summit in Cambodia on Nov 10–13 is approaching. Because the crisis in Myanmar goes to the heart of questions about Asean's role in the region, this will no doubt be one of the more problematic issues on the leaders' agenda.
Asean's policy is based on the Five-Point Consensus which its leaders agreed in April 2020. But immediately after it was adopted, Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing made it clear he would not implement it until his regime's own Five-Point Roadmap had been realised. But the overall objective of Min Aung Hlaing's roadmap is to ensure the military's own survival and not the restoration of democracy.
Myanmar's uncompromising military leaders have resisted all efforts to start a serious dialogue with Asean, even in the face of an imploding economy and formidable domestic hostility, including a much stronger-than-expected country-wide armed resistance movement.
