Recently, when asked, I have been making the point that:

Myanmar deserves to be at peace with itself. President Thein is in charge. I guess there is a Nobel Peace Prize waiting for whoever manages to finally end Burma’s tragic history of civil war. The real question at this stage should be: is President Thein Sein up to the task? Millions of Myanmar citizens certainly hope so.

This analytical thrust has got a bit more attention now that The Myanmar Times is running it so prominently. You can read their article here.

Before anyone asks, for the moment, at least, I don’t actually think President Thein Sein is in the running for a Nobel Prize. But I can foresee cicumstances where that changes quite quickly, especially if a “grand negotiation” of the type discussed at the end of The Myanmar Times article was to succeed. I could imagine a joint Nobel Peace Prize for any political leaders who can bring lasting peace to Burma. And that might include U Thein Sein.

For now, we should be asking: What would such lasting peace look like? Who will take charge? And who else needs to be involved?