"...At the midpoint of the Aung San Suu Kyi government?s five-year term, Myanmar is at a crossroads. The Suu Kyi administration faces enormous international opprobrium over the Rohingya crisis ? the flight of over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh due to a brutal army counter-insurgency campaign ? as well as domestic opposition to the concessions needed to address international concerns. Yet the government?s challenge is not only political. Its performance to date on issues from peace talks with Myanmar?s numerous insurgencies to the economy shows that it is not adept at formulating strategy or implementing policy. Even were the government to develop the political will to respond constructively to the Rohingya crisis or other problems, progress is likely to be limited. This means that, in addition to the external pressure that continues to build, principled diplomatic engagement is also vital to translate that pressure into at least some meaningful steps forward. In 2011, Myanmar embarked on a remarkable and largely unanticipated transition away from 50 years of isolationist and authoritarian military rule. The transition culminated in broadly free and fair elections in 2015, a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party, and the peaceful transfer of power to an administration headed de facto by Aung San Suu Kyi ? the military regime?s longtime nemesis and an international democracy icon..."