Conflict in Myanmar as a Key Factor in Changing the Balance of Power in the Confrontation Between the West and the Autocratic Axis

On April 3, 2026, Myanmar’s parliament elected General Min Aung Hlaing—the de facto leader of the military junta—as President following three rounds of parliamentary voting held between December 28, 2025, and January 25, 2026. 

No democratic country recognized the elections as legitimate, whereas Hlaing’s presidency received support from China, Russia, and Belarus instead. 

The junta remains a collective military governing body, and Hlaing’s election constitutes a simulated electoral act that does not alter the underlying balance of power in the country.

Myanmar’s civil war is one of the few active conflicts with the potential to significantly shape the global balance in the confrontation between the democratic world and the autocratic axis.