"Since the 1990s, a number of political alliances have been formed to challenge Burmese Government authority over their ethnic constituencies. After the failure of the military regime to recognise the results of the 1990 general election, a number of ethnic political parties have tried to work within the Government?s political system often at great cost to themselves. In some instances, this has led to parties being deregistered, ethnic political leaders being imprisoned, and other party members restricted from carrying out activities. At this moment in time, there are three main ethnic political alliances operating in the country, and each seeks a role in forming a future federal union. After the 2010 election, ethnic politics could be defined as consisting of four main actors: the armed ethnic groups, the previous ceasefire groups,1 the Nationalities Brotherhood Forum (NBF), and the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA)..."