"Hopes were once high that Myanmar?s transition to semi-civilian government in 2011 would be accompanied by the settlement of its decades-old conflicts with its ethnic minorities. However, many of the country?s insurgencies have escalated since then, plunging the north back into renewed civil conflict. As things currently stand, government forces are battling various ethnic armed groups ? including Kachin, Kokang, and Palaung movements ? resulting in heavy losses on both sides and the displacement of up to 200,000 civilians in Shan and Kachin States. The escalation of conflict seems particularly puzzling because Myanmar?s generals managed to pacify many of the country?s ethno-nationalist insurgencies with ceasefires in the 1990s. These settlements allowed non-state armed groups to not only retain their arms and pockets of territory, but also granted lucrative business concessions. Instead of fighting each other, elites from all sides started to collaborate in exploiting the area?s natural riches. Dubbed ?ceasefire capitalism”[i] by some observers, this economic approach to counterinsurgency produced a remarkably stable order..."