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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***Last Monday, resistance fighters in Myanmar seized the city of Kawlin in the Sagaing Region, long a stronghold for the armed resistance to the country’s military junta. This is the first district capital seized by the resistance since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military in February 2021. We asked five experts to tell us about the significance of this capture and what it can tell us about the state of play in Myanmar.Lucas Myers Senior Associate for Southeast Asia Asia Program Wilson CenterThe outbreak of resistance offensives across Myanmar over the past three weeks crystalize the military junta’s deteriorating position. Junta forces are increasingly overstretched, attrited, and reliant upon airpower and artillery. During Operation 1027 and follow-on offensives, anti-regime forces hit the junta across a number of axes, taking several towns, including the strategically impactful Kawlin and Khampet in Sagaing Region and Hseni and Chinshwehaw in Shan State along the China border. In Kawlin’s case, this is the first time People’s Defense Forces units have captured a district capital. These successes demonstrate resistance forces can seize settlements despite the threat of enemy air supremacy. Importantly, the Myanmar military lacks the strategic reserves to respond across such a wide array of fronts. Although the junta is unlikely to collapse imminently and the resistance has a way to go to bring their coalition together politically, the strategic balance of power has fundamentally shifted. Myanmar’s renewed civil war is no longer a strategic stalemate. Kaitlyn Robinson Assistant Professor of Political Science Rice UniversityOn Oct. 27,