Outside Myanmar, the 2021 coup detat has often been portrayed as the end of a hopeful period for the country. In this Adelphi book, however, Aaron Connelly and Shona Loong argue that the Aung San Suu Kyi government that preceded it was a false dawn, unlikely to fulfil the international community's aspirations for a stable, peaceful and strong Myanmar. Instead, the movement opposing the 2021 coup holds much greater promise despite the bloody conflict that dominates the news today.

Connelly and Loong survey three fundamental relationships that have shaped Myanmar before and after the coup between the military and the state, between the majority Burmese and ethnic minorities, and between Myanmar and the world to explain how opposition to the coup has shifted all of them in a more liberal, pluralist and cosmopolitan direction.