Dr David Brenner is Associate Professor in Global Insecurities in the Department of International Relations at the University of Sussex. David studied in Heidelberg, Beijing and London, earning his PhD from the London School of Economics. He has researched the armed conflict in Myanmar since 2012 and is author of Rebel Politics: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar’s Borderlands, published with Cornell University Press in 2019. His recent publications on the topic include Misunderstanding Myanmar through the Lens of Democracy, published with International Affairs in 2024.