The military has been the most powerful institution in Myanmar since the country’s independence from Britain in 1948.
![Armed military soldiers in a car in downtown Yangon. Myanmar's military seized power and and said it will rule the country for at least one year after detaining its top political leaders [File: Stringer/Anadolu Agency]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/23651978.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

Nonresident WSD-Handa Fellow at Pacific Forum and a PhD candidate at the Australian National University's Coral Bell School of Asia-Pacific Affairs
The military has been the most powerful institution in Myanmar since the country’s independence from Britain in 1948.
![Armed military soldiers in a car in downtown Yangon. Myanmar's military seized power and and said it will rule the country for at least one year after detaining its top political leaders [File: Stringer/Anadolu Agency]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/23651978.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)