"The communal bloodshed in Myanmar?s Rakhine State represents both a consequence of, and threat to, Myanmar?s current political transition. While communal tensions and discrimination against Myanmar?s Muslim minority long predate the country?s recent opening up, the loosening of authoritarian constraints may well have enabled this current crisis to take on a virulent intensity. Equally, failure to both halt the crisis and address its underlying causes risks halting or even eroding Myanmar?s current reform initiatives. Unless the government takes steps not just to end the violence but also lay the groundwork for protection of minority communities there is a risk of the violence spreading. How the government handles this case will be a major test of the police and courts in a country that has just begun to emerge from an authoritarian past. It will also test the government?s will and capacity to reverse a longstanding policy of discrimination toward the Muslim Rohingya..."