Inside the Myanmar Junta’s Post-Earthquake Theater of Control

The problem is not just the dictatorship—it’s also the deception that sustains it.

The March 28 Sagaing earthquake in Myanmar struck a nation already in a polycrisis. But while the ground shook, so too did the political dynamics—shaken by manipulation.

What followed was not just disaster response. It became a disaster deception. How did the Myanmar junta exploit the catastrophe to re-enter diplomacy, distort reality and derail a people-led revolution?