" Myanmar is one step away from a historic deal that could end seven decades of internal armed conflict. On Aug. 6-7 representatives of the Myanmar government, including from the armed forces, met with leaders of the country?s ethnic armed groups and finalized the text of the Nationwide Cease-Fire Agreement. The N.C.A. took a year and a half of negotiations — I helped advise the government during that time — and required difficult compromises on all sides. It is no simple truce, but rather a complex set of military and political undertakings. It also provides early measures to begin comprehensive political talks about constitutional reform and the long-divisive issue of federalism, and about a formal peace agreement that would permanently end the war. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition in Myanmar, held a news conference on Tuesday at the Parliament building in Naypyidaw, the capital.Aung San Suu Kyi Calls Ex-Leader of Myanmar Governing Party an ?Ally?AUG. 18, 2015 The only outstanding question is which groups exactly will become parties to the N.C.A. The government insists that the agreement should initially be signed only by the 15 armed groups with which it already has bilateral cease-fire agreements. It also wants to exclude three small ethnic armed groups the army has clashed with recently, as well as a few unarmed ethnic organizations..."