"Since implementing recent political reforms, the Thein Sein government has attempted to make a number of state level ceasefire agreements with both previous ceasefire groups and other anti-government forces. On the 13 January 2012, the Burmese government signed an intial peace agreement with the Karen National Union. The agreement, the third such agreement with ethnic opposition forces within two month, signals a radical change in how previous Burmese governments have dealt with ethnic grievences. Up until the recent negotiations and the outbreak of hostilities in Kachin State, there had been three main ethnic groups with armies fighting against the government. These armies are the Karen National Liberation Army, which has between three and four thousand troops, the Shan State Army – South, which has between six and seven thousand troops, and the Karenni Army, fielding between eight hundred to fifteen hundred troops. In addition to the three main groups there are also the Chin National Front (Chin National Army) with approximately two hundred troops3 and the Arakan Liberation Army with roughly one hundred troops.4 Under previous military regimes, the ethnic question had been dealt with as a military matter and not as a political or constitutional issue. Consequently, the failure of the Burmese government to recognize the true nature of the ethnic struggle resulted in constant civil war. As a result, over a hundred and fifty thousand refugees have been forced to shelter in neighbouring countries due to a conflict that has been charecterized by it myriad human rights abuses. Recent negotiations have changed significantly due to the fact that the Thein Sein government has dropped a number of requirements that previous regimes had made in relation to setting conditions for talks. One of the most important was the fact that a ceasefire must be agreed to prior to discussions taking place. Recent talks have taken place without this condition and unlike previous attempts at peace the Burmese authorities have not demanded weapons to be surrendered first. Another previous condition was the insistence that all talks must take place inside Burma. This was also recently negated with exploratory talks taking place in Thailand with the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army – South (RCSS/SSA), The Chin National Front (CNF) and the Karen National Union (KNU) and also in China with the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). According to media reports5 the Burmese government has set the following conditions in relation to conducting agreements with the ethnic groups:..."