Ethos
Development of a local cadre of peace and security experts, who can foster a home-grown approach to the peace and security transition, is a pragmatic necessity. It will help to ensure that the peace process and the SSD agenda are locally-owned and minimize the risk of their being dismissed as “imported” concepts with no relevance to Myanmar.
MIPS will operate on the basis of four broad principles:
- First, MIPS will function as an independent professional platform;
- Second, the work of MIPS will be practical and problem-driven in orientation, rather than academic, in order to ensure that its outputs (both research and policy advice) are accessible to all engaged in Myanmar’s peace and security transformation;
- Third, MIPS will adopt an inclusive approach. It will seek to engage with the full range of relevant stakeholders and narrow the current gap among civilians, the military and EAOs by bringing all sides together in a pragmatic and rigorous policy debate about peace and security matters; and
- Fourth, the focus will be on learning by doing. Rather than out-sourcing activities to external experts, we will carry out as much work as possible “in-house” (with external mentoring as necessary) and draw on experience from other countries to stimulate consideration of alternative security and justice arrangements that might better serve the people of Myanmar.