Myanmar’s Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA): an analysis of a new Muslim militant group and its strategic communications

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) has been central to two major Myanmar military operations against Rohingya communities that have led to large-scale cross-border forced migrations to Bangladesh. This article describes the context for ARSA’s emergence, examining the Rohingya’s history in Myanmar, the nature of political violence in the country, and the history of Muslim militancy in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. ARSA’s emergence as a militant Muslim group is outlined and elements of ARSA’s strategic communications, including its Twitter presence, are analysed, allowing the author to draw some conclusions about the nature of ARSA and its priorities.