The Carr Center recently hosted a breakfast and conversation with Wai Wai Nu, a Burmese human rights activist who spent seven years as a political prisoner in Myanmar (formerly Burma) from 2005 to 2012. In 2013, Nu founded the Women’s Peace Network in Myanmar, which is dedicated to fighting political oppression and genocide against women in marginalized communities. Nu recently served as a Genocide Prevention Fellow with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and currently serves as a Visiting Scholar with the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
“I am a former political prisoner and founder and executive director of Women’s Peace Network in Myanmar. Even before the recent military coup in 2021, I was targeted by the Burmese military due to my work on human rights,” said Nu. In the years since her political imprisonment, Nu has led efforts to build peace in Myanmar for all people of any gender, ethnicity, and religion, and has spoken in numerous international forums about the human rights situation in Myanmar.
Nu spoke about events within the past decade in Myanmar that have caused political and social turmoil throughout the nation, and the need for international attention and advocacy in times of crisis. In 2017, genocidal attacks occurred against the Rohingya, causing nearly one million people to flee to Bangladesh in less than a month. “After this, the entire world was shocked, and there was a brief window where we had attention on Burma. We used this window to keep up the momentum for justice,” said Nu.
"For us in Burma, we have to continue to build our movement regardless of international attention. We have no luxury of not doing this."
Once a movement gains visibility—especially at the international level—it becomes much easier to gain access to political venues, and to have the movement be taken seriously. “But once that international media coverage disappears, it is a little challenging to continue bringing attention to your cause and get meetings with decision-makers,” said Nu. Without focused international attention, the world moves on from a crisis quickly. And with other growing crises all over the world, the attention on Myanmar after the attacks in 2017 did not last long, until a military coup took place in 2021 that shifted the political landscape of the country once more.
“For us in Burma, we have to continue to build our movement regardless of international attention. We have no luxury of not doing this,” said Nu. Their persistence in pro-democracy activism has helped Nu and her colleagues continue to engage with UN Security Council members regularly, despite the ebbs and flows of international attention. “It’s about consistency, and it’s about strategic advocacy,” said Nu.
Jessica Sun (MPP ’25), co-moderator of the discussion, brought up the increasing political polarization we are now seeing at an international level, and which has been growing strongly within the past decade and has brought with it many anti-democratic values. For Myanmar, since its independence, Nu noted how the country has never had a full democracy. Following its independence in 1948, the country had a short-lived parliamentary democracy that ultimately lasted only until a 1961 military coup.
"The rule of law is the most important thing. Nobody should be above the law. If that happens, there should be a mass movement to safeguard the rule of law and the principles of democracy."
“After that, we didn’t have elections in Burma until 1990, which is when we saw the landslide victory of the National League for Democracy under Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Nu. However, the military junta refused to recognize the results of the election and continued its rule until 2011. From 2012, Nu explained that the country had a quasi-democracy, bound by the 2008 Constitution that provided the military with 25% of all Parliamentary seats. Regardless, elections took place, and political parties were able to develop. Civil society had time to thrive, and real progress was beginning. “But, because the democracy was not built on concrete foundations, it was not difficult to break it. In just one night, the military staged a coup and returned the country to the status quo of military dictatorship,” said Nu. That coup took place in 2021, garnering international attention after a fitness instructor accidentally caught part of the coup unfolding on camera in the capital of Naypyidaw.
“The key here is that building the concrete foundations of democracy and a strong institution is critical. If you don’t have strong institutions, there will be actors who come in to destroy it. The rule of law is the most important thing. Nobody should be above the law. If that happens, there should be a mass movement to safeguard the rule of law and the principles of democracy. If not, I think it is extremely dangerous, and I’m very concerned about backsliding democracy not only in the United States, but all over the world with increasing populist movements worldwide,” said Nu.
"This is a time for the entire world to wake up and start rebuilding, safeguarding, and protecting our freedoms. As someone coming from Burma, we know all too well that you can lose those freedoms in a second."
Nu explained how the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar looked up to Western democracies for decades—especially the United States and what Nu described as its strong institutions, its balance of power, and its rule of law. However, with the shifting political landscape in the United States, that is starting to change. “I think people are very concerned now, to be honest,” said Nu. “We don’t know—maybe there could be a role model in this world someday to look up to, and to guide others in building a functioning and effective democracy. This is a time for the entire world to wake up and start rebuilding, safeguarding, and protecting our freedoms. As someone coming from Burma, we know all too well that you can lose those freedoms in a second.”
Maria Kuznetsova (MPP ’25), a Scholar at Risk at the Carr Center and co-moderator of the event, brought up the role of social media in promoting disinformation and hate speech, expressing how it has ultimately led to the greater political polarization of societies worldwide. Nu agreed, noting, “The role of Facebook was crucial in promoting hate speech in Burma not only in 2017, but up to today. It is because a lot of people in Burma see Facebook as their main source of information and news media. But you understand how the algorithms work: people are often in echo chambers. If they, for example, click on one post that promotes hate, then they will continue to see similar posts. And that’s how it has affected the larger society in promoting hate speech. Facebook is responsible for that, and I don’t think they have done enough to repair this,” said Nu.
"More than ever, universities, academia, and scholars will be very important in highlighting threats and building movements."
While there are a few legal cases against Facebook currently underway, Nu notes that reparations for these contributions to social unrest should not only include monetary compensation but should force the platform to change its policies. Hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation campaigns continue on Facebook and other social media platforms, including X, and there are no mechanisms currently in place to protect activists who are targeted by these campaigns and doxing. Another platform becoming more important in Myanmar is Telegram, used by a large number of pro-military users who share disinformation campaigns and promote violent rhetoric against the pro-democracy movement. “They will profile someone from the pro-democracy movement each week, and their supporters will go after those individuals and attack them,” said Nu.
Despite growing polarization, Nu remains hopeful. “We have a few approaches towards building peace and minimizing both polarization and the knowledge gap between different communities to reduce hate. But, more than ever, universities, academia, and scholars will be very important in highlighting threats and building movements. Without them, I think it’s going to be really challenging. But I like to be hopeful that that campuses will create our next generation of scholars.”
“Your role in safeguarding democracy is essential,” said Nu.