“People are Living with Fear” – Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun Delivers George Herbert Walker, Jr. Lecture

A hushed audience in Luce Hall listened as Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations, delivered the MacMillan Center’s 2024-25 George Herbert Walker, Jr. Lecture, organized by the Council on Southeast Asia Studies. Tun spoke emotionally about his country’s ongoing fight for democracy after the 2021 coup d’etat.
 

With a pained expression and a quivering voice, Tun declared: “People are living with fear.”
 

His appearance at MacMillan on January 31 marked the eve of the fourth anniversary of Myanmar's military coup, and in an impassioned speech, he highlighted the ongoing struggles of the Burmese people while underscoring the importance of global attention to their fight for democracy. 
 

Tun’s work as a political dissident focuses on promoting elected civilian democracies in the face of pushback from oppressive authoritarian regimes. Professor Erik Harms, chair of MacMillan’s Council on Southeast Asia Studies, said having guest speakers like Tun at MacMillan reinforces the Center’s role in fostering important global conversations.
 

“[This lecture is] a model for how diplomats can focus on actual issues facing the people they represent even as authoritarian regimes try to displace them," said Harms. “Lectures [like Tun’s are] important to all thinkers at Yale devoted to understanding the responsibilities and challenges faced by the U.N. General Assembly when there are disputes about legitimate representation after a coup.”
 

Harms poignantly opened the evening by introducing Tun with a three-fingered salute. The gesture, adopted by anti-coup protestors in Myanmar, was also one that Tun himself gave before the U.N. General Assembly in 2021, as an act of defiance against his country’s military junta.
 

According to Tun, more than 28,000 individuals have been arrested, and nearly 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. He discussed the need for the international community to take steps to support democracy in Myanmar. 
 

“We need coordinated, concrete actions both from the U.N. Security Council and member states of the United Nations,” he said. “If the international community does not help save innocent civilians from the military’s atrocities, the least they can do is not to enable the military to continue to commit such atrocities.”  
 

Though Tun painted a stark image of Myanmar’s political and humanitarian crisis, he offered a glimmer of hope for the future.
 

“Forty-four percent of the country’s townships are under the control of revolutionary forces, ethnic resistance organizations, and people’s defense forces,” Tun said, citing significant resistance to the military’s power in the country.
 

In a panel following Tun’s address, Yale postdoctoral associate and lecturer in Southeast Asian Studies David Thang Moe shared the ambassador’s optimism for Myanmar’s future. Moe commended the resilience of Myanmar’s youth, particularly Generation Z. 
 

“They are incredibly courageous, and creative in their resistance to the coup from the ground-up. This revolution is a highly decentralized form of resistance to the centralized coup. In terms of technology, the military cannot catch them,” Moe said. 
 

“The current revolution is inclusively supported through interreligious solidarity and interethnic reconciliation, as well as by diasporic Burmese communities, all united by the spirit of moving beyond Buddhist nationalism. They use social media, especially Facebook as a platform to mobilize social movements and connect people on the ground with those abroad.”
 

Moe continued: “Over the past four years, the civilians have gained control of most parts of the nation, particularly the countryside. In the coming years, they must focus on the urgent task of building stronger and more united local governance in such liberated areas of villages and towns, to address civil education, public health, and more.” 
 

Tun remains resolute in his belief in Myanmar’s path forward.
 

“The future of Myanmar is in the hands of the people,” he said.
 

Established in 1988, the George Herbert Walker, Jr. Lecture at the MacMillan Center has highlighted speakers and topics of global significance. Previous speakers include former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Christopher Hill, and former president of The Brookings Institution Strobe Talbott.