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Chapter 8 looks at the ongoing ethnic conflicts along the Sino-Myanmar borderland area, and explores ways in which these conflicts continue to implicate Myanmar’s state and nation-building processes. It examines three prominent ethnic rebel groups. The first is the Kachin Independence Army, with which the Myanmar national army has ongoing military clashes. The second is the Kokang rebel group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which the Myanmar central military successfully defeated twice, in 2009 and 2015. The third is the United Wa State Army, which despite a 2011 break in the ceasefire between it and the Myanmar central government, has so far not faced direct military pressure and continues to maintain a high level of political and cultural autonomy. Altogether, the chapter offers a more up-to-date analysis of the challenges facing Myanmar’s state and nation-building processes and the implications for bilateral relations with China and Thailand.

The search for greater connectivity with Southeast Asia is driving the evolution of the relationship between India and Myanmar. A partnership with Naypyidaw could help India’s integration with the more dynamic economies of Southeast Asia as well as with the dynamic Yunnan province in China. In doing so, India also expects to contain China’s influence in Myanmar. Transport infrastructure projects, including the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, are being developed in Myanmar that may help India achieve its objectives. But numerous obstacles including ethnic conflicts in the country as well as relative mistrust between New Delhi and Naypyidaw may inhibit regional integration through Myanmar. India moreover faces competition from countries with much larger capacities such as Japan and the United States, which on one hand may help diminish China’s influence but also diminish the political space available for India.

Chapter 9 concludes with some theoretical reflection on the neighborhood effect of state and nation building. More pertinent to the borderland area examined in this book, it also looks at recent developments in China’s push for more regional economic integration and the implications for both Myanmar and Thailand. By documenting the historical development of variations in these state and nation buildings, and their contemporary manifestations, the book emphasizes how asymmetrical power relations across national borders have deep consequences for how politics along the border are structured and the diverse outcome in state consolidation and national identity construction. Specifically, the book has pointed out the substantial influence the PRC has in the political dynamic of the borderland. With its growing power asymmetry over its southern neighbors, its influence is bound to increase, along with possible resistance against its influence.