''As Myanmar’s government invites a group of eight ethnic armed groups to yet another round of talks on March 21 to the capital Naypyitaw, the ethnically divided nation is more clearly headed towards more war than peace. The government refers to the invited groups, seven members of an alliance called the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) plus the Karenni National Progressive Party, as “non-signatories” because they have not signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) The NCA, launched by Myanmar’s then president Thein Sein in October 2015 and now pursued by the elected government led by ex-opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is a misnomer as it only includes a small number of the country’s many ethnic armed groups. Those eight non-signatory groups represent an estimated 80% of all armed rebels in the country, while the signatories, now up to ten groups, are mostly small entities which do not possess significant armed forces...''