An examination of how drugs policies and programmes intersect with conflict, peace, health and development in Myanmar.

Five considerations for international actors trying to engage with drugs policy in Myanmar
Based on analysis of how drugs policies and programmes intersect with conflict, peace, health and development in Myanmar.

International Journal of Drug Policy Special Issue: Drugs, conflict and development
Empirical research on the convergence of the drugs, development and peacebuilding policy fields.

The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in Northern Myanmar, part three: Legal pluralism & the challenge of everyday justice
This paper provides and overview of the activities of a large drug eradication movement called Pat Jasan in northern Myanmar.

The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in northern Myanmar, part two: Deep culture & cultural psychology
This paper intends to understand better the cultural and psychological response to worsening drug issues that underpin the rise of Pat Jasan as a mass social movement.

The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in Northern Myanmar, part one: Origins & reactions
An introduction to the origins and emergence of Pat Jasan, a social movement that emerged among the Kachin population of Myanmar.

Precarity, poverty and poppy: Encountering development in the uplands of Shan State, Myanmar
The paper argues that if the current agenda to developmentalise drug policy is to make a meaningful contribution to the lives of the rural poor in drug-producing regions in Myanmar and beyond, it must confront the fact that for many households the decision to cultivate opium has been a response to the very processes of market-led rural development that policymakers claim will alleviate poverty.

In the world’s forgotten borderlands, the drug trade helps people survive – but at a cost
Conventional thinking about illicit drugs, development and violence are deeply flawed, here’s why.

Drugs, development and violence in war-to-peace transitions
This policy brief shares insights from seven conflict- and drug-affected borderlands in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar, and reflects on their implications for those supporting peace processes, poverty alleviation and development in fragile contexts affected by drugs.

Voices from the borderlands 2020
Insights into how illicit drugs – and drug policies – impact the dynamics of violence and peace, poverty and development, and insecurity and resilience.

Adapting Drugs & (dis)order to the COVID-19 pandemic
From home-working and research activities to altered politics. Here’s how we’re adapting to new circumstances.

States, markets and violence in drug-affected borderlands
Experts share insights from fieldwork in the drug-affected borderlands of Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar at the SOAS Development Studies Seminar.

A curious case of unusual economic transformation
Explaining and challenging dominant narratives around illicit crops and development, using the curious case of Myanmar.

Peace, illicit drugs and the SDGs: A development gap
New counter-narcotic and peacebuilding strategies are needed to meet SDG16.

Illicit drugs and peace: why the borderlands matter
The borderlands lie at the country margins, but are central to processes that generate war and peace.