Air Strikes in Myanmar - An Analysis Under International Law

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the reignited Israel-Palestine conflict in 2023, international law regulating the use of air power has been put to the test. The use of air strikes in civilian areas has put this shortcoming at the forefront of conversation about the use of force, and what constitutes a war crime in modern conflict. This conversation has centered around the two aforementioned conflicts but has left other international disputes out of the discussion. In particular the civil war in Myanmar, a bloody conflict which follows decades of ethnic violence, political stratification, and a successful coup d’etat in 2021.

The military junta governing Myanmar, known as the “State Administration Council,” has oft-utilized deadly airstrikes in its war against the exiled government forces, a coalition of ethnic groups and political minorities and an exiled parliamentary force known as the “National Unity Government.” This conflict has received little scholarly attention, and no legal analysis has been done on the State Administration Council’s use of force against civilian and military targets. This article argues that the State Administration Council’s use of air strikes is likely in violation of current international law but that the framework of international law should be modernized to reflect the changing nature of conflict.