"The military coup in Myanmar has gone past the point of no return, according to a confidential U.K. foreign office assessment, in a sign that major democracies expect to have limited ability to influence the events unfolding inside the country. The latest in global politics Get insight from reporters around the world in the Balance of Power newsletter. Email Enter your email Bloomberg may send me offers and promotions. Sign Up By submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The bleak view last week from a senior British diplomat concludes the coup is irreversible, and that army chief Min Aung Hlaing will seek to crush ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party in order to install himself as president. The assessment, the broad outlines of which were shared with Bloomberg News, also cites the risk that anti-coup protests -- with tens of thousands subsequently demonstrating on the weekend -- could turn bloody. With Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint in detention and facing criminal charges, the British conclusion is that a leaderless National League for Democracy will likely start to fracture. That will allow the military, which seized power on Feb. 1, to dominate in an election it has promised to hold following a one-year state of emergency. Nations including the U.K., the U.S. and Australia have condemned the coup, which followed Suu Kyi’s landslide win in an election in November that outside observers deem to have been largely free and fair. Some countries have raised the prospect of renewed sanctions on Myanmar, which has made only tentative efforts in recent years to open up its economy to outside investment...."