Authoritarian Rule in Myanmar: "Divide and Rule" : Strategies and Their Human Rights Consequences

This thesis explores how the Myanmar military regime (2021–2024) has employed "divide and rule" strategies to consolidate their authoritarian power and the extent to which these strategies have contributed to widespread human rights abuses. Drawing on United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) reports, the analysis identifies recurring patterns of repression that align with "divide and rule" strategies: instigating ethnic violence, criminalising dissent, weaponising legal and media systems, and obstructing humanitarian aid. These actions have fragmented opposition, deepened ethnic divisions, and enabled systemic violence. While it is difficult to definitively establish the regime’s intent, the similarities to known cases such as Kenya suggest a plausible strategic application of "divide and rule". The findings support Juan Linz’s theory of authoritarianism, highlighting how regimes centralise power through legal manipulation and coercion. Practically, this study underscores the importance of recognising both direct and structural violence in authoritarian contexts. This study employs a single-case study design, focusing on Myanmar to allow for an in-depth exploration of how “divide and rule” strategies may be used by authoritarian regimes to influence the conflict. The method involves qualitative content analysis of human rights reports, using a structured coding frame to systematically identify patterns and themes, that reveal the regime’s strategies and their impacts on human rights. This approach aims to enable a detailed and unbiased examination of large volumes of textual data without relying on interviews or surveys.