On the Frontlines of Democracy
Coming Soon….
“In improbable places, the demand for democracy and the will to fight for democracy remains strong,” reflects Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora. While these words refer to the aspirations of the people of Myanmar, they are sentiments that could apply universally.
Since the 2021 military coup, sustaining focused international attention on the protracted and complex situation in Myanmar has presented a considerable and ongoing challenge. In a global environment characterized by many competing crises and the ever-shifting sands of geopolitical priorities, Casas-Zamora speaks to the fundamental and universal principles at stake in Myanmar’s struggle against the forces of authoritarianism, urging the international community to remain engaged and committed to supporting the democratic aspirations of its people. “At a fundamental level, any country’s struggle for democracy is every country’s struggle for democracy,” he says.
As the Secretary-General of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), a Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization dedicated to advancing democracy around the world, Casas-Zamora’s career spans three decades, from his tenure as Costa Rica’s Second Vice President and Minister of National Planning to his roles as Secretary for Political Affairs at Organization of American States and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. A lawyer by training, he holds degrees from the University of Costa Rica, the University of Essex, and the University of Oxford. His doctoral research, focusing on political finance in Latin America, earned him the 2004 Jean Blondel PhD Prize. In addition to his role at International IDEA since 2019, he contributes his expertise as a Senior Fellow at a Washington D.C.-based policy research center called Inter-American Dialogue.
Myanmar’s struggle directly aligns with IDEA’s mission, Casas-Zamora says. “We should try to support the enormous courage of the people, particularly the young people in Myanmar, because they are fighting for something that is bigger than them, bigger than Myanmar, and bigger than each of us. I mean, they're fighting for values that, in the case of International IDEA, are the reason why we do this work,” he says. “We’re fighting for the only political arrangement that guarantees that the fundamental dignity of people is protected. This is a cause that concerns all of us, and they're on the frontline and fighting for us! It’s our duty to support them.”
The organization’s engagement with Myanmar has been a responsive process, adapting to the country’s evolving political landscape. They began operating more in Myanmar in 2012, when the National League for Democracy under Aung San Suu Kyi participated in by-elections (and won by a landslide in the 2015 elections). Even before Myanmar’s steps towards democratic reform in 2012, International IDEA recognized the long-term need for democratic development and maintained a foundational presence. It continued to expand its efforts, offering support to the emerging democratic institutions and actors. This included providing technical expertise for electoral administration, facilitating inclusive discussions on potential constitutional reforms, and working to improve the capacity of parliamentary bodies.
Casas-Zamora describes Myanmar as one of the frontlines of democracy in the 21st century, and goes on to describe how IDEA’s strategy there is tailored to the local context. “A big part of our work is working with democratic, legitimate actors in Myanmar to craft a constitutional settlement for a federal Myanmar,” he says. “Then there’s the more practical question of providing safe spaces for the pro-democracy movement to meet, both in person and online. This is something that we are doing on a regular basis, providing civic education and training to many of the people that are working in different ways towards democracy in Myanmar.” The final component, he adds, is keeping the country on the international radar.
The reversal of democratic progress after the 2021 coup is not unique to Myanmar – there is a widespread trend of democratic deterioration, says Casas-Zamora. The broader global context for democracy, as analyzed in International IDEA’s annual Global State of Democracy report, reveals concerning patterns of democratic erosion in numerous countries in the past five years. Considering this, Casas-Zamora notes the increasing complexities and challenges faced by pro-democracy movements globally.
The situation in Myanmar is particularly stark, however, as it involves a more brutal and abrupt reversal of democratic progress than in most other countries in the world; in those contexts, he has observed a deterioration of democratic values that he likens to the proverbial frog being slowly boiled to death. “When you take 173 countries covered by the report, it turns out that in essentially half of them, at least one absolutely pivotal element of democracy, which in some cases might be the ability to hold credible elections or the protection of freedom of expression or the quality of civil space, has declined in a very significant way over the previous five years. That alone tells you how widespread the process of deterioration in the quality of democratic governance is, and how rapidly it is advancing,” says Casas-Zamora.
The international environment for protecting democracy has also changed dramatically over the last generation. “Regimes like the military regime in Myanmar pay much less of a cost for their democratic transgression now than the case a generation ago. That is the sheer impunity with which regimes of different kinds trample on democracy,” he notes. Furthermore, he expresses frustration at what he perceives as the tepid and insufficient international response to the Myanmar crisis, a response that fails to meet the moment. “This is as clear a case deserving the support of democratic nations and democratic political forces as you can possibly imagine, right? Yet, that’s not what we are seeing,” he says.
In his reflections on the situation in Myanmar, Casas-Zamora has called for concrete and decisive actions to be undertaken by the international community as a whole. This includes the fundamental importance of formally recognizing the legitimacy of those democratic actors and institutions that rightfully emerged from the last credible and fair elections held within the country, and the necessity of unequivocally condemning any and all attempts to legitimize the unlawful military seizure of power through the manipulation of electoral processes. Referring to the anticipated December 2025 elections that the junta has advocated for, he described it as nothing more than a “phony election,” warning that supporting it could sanitize and legitimize the regime’s tyranny.
Despite the challenges, he draws inspiration from the resilience of the Myanmar people, particularly the youth. “I am inspired by what I see in my colleagues that come from Myanmar. Almost all of them, the young people, came of age during the political opening in Myanmar and they are simply not willing to roll over and accept the military takeover. That deserves support.” He emphasizes the need for continued international solidarity. He calls for the imperative of maintaining sustained and unwavering international attention on the ongoing crisis.
“This is an immensely brave people, fighting for a cause that we all profess to support, against very difficult odds,” Casas-Zamora says. “I would hope that we don’t lose sight that the struggle for democracy is never easy and is never linear. In most cases, it is a protracted process where at many points along the road, the odds look impossible, and then eventually there’s a breakthrough.”