Marco Rubio was once adamant that the US had to do everything in its power to end what he described as the “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya in Myanmar. In a 2017 letter he signed along with 20 other US senators, Rubio called for “strong multilateral sanctions against specific senior Burmese military officials associated with the gross human rights abuses”. Those responsible for the atrocities should be prosecuted, he argued.

In the years since, the Myanmar military’s crimes have only increased. What was then deemed ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya is now widely viewed, including by the US, as genocide. What little democracy existed in Myanmar was eradicated in 2021 when Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and imprisoned and her party’s election victory overturned, and the military took full control.

This sparked a civil war that has now turned into a brutal series of overlapping conflicts between the military, resistance forces and a medley of ethnic militias. Around 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has forced 5 million people to flee their homes. The UN estimates that 16 million are now in need of urgent assistance. It is one of the world’s biggest humanitarian disasters – and entirely human-made.

Earlier this year, Myanmar held sham elections, and Min Aung Hlaing – the general most responsible for Myanmar’s genocide and one of the targets of Rubio’s letter – became president.

But Rubio, now the US secretary of state, no longer believes that Min Aung Hlaing should be prosecuted. Instead he’d rather like him to become an ally. This month the Trump administration decided to upend nearly a decade of united western policy and open direct talks with the Myanmar regime. The possibility of lifting sanctions is now being discussed. The move has shocked other western nations – none of which, it appears, was warned.

Inevitably, a Maga figure lingers in the background. This time it’s Roger Stone, the Donald Trump........

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