Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies

The first ever think tank in Myanmar, the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (Myanmar-ISIS) was formed in July 1992 with the then Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar as its Chairman.

Initially, MISIS served as a think tank for foreign policy research and providing recommendations to the Ministry. The Institute had an Executive Board with four years tenure, headed by a Chair assisted by 11 executive Board members, two of whom were assigned as Secretary and Joint Secretary.

The Institute had been working closely as an observer affiliated since 1992 with the ASEAN Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS), and the strategic Institutes of the Member States in the region. With the change of Chairman and members of the Institute including retired Myanmar Ambassador U Nyunt Maung Shein and service personnel from foreign affairs and other departments concerned, it became a full-fledged non-partisan member of ASEAN-ISIS in 2013.

Its main purpose as a think tank organization is to get involved in and take an active role in the various networks of Track-Two Policy Think Tanks such as:

• The Network of East Asia Think Tank (NEAT)
• The Network of ASEAN China Think Tank (NACT)
• The Network of ASEAN India Think Tank (NAITT)
• The Network of ASEAN Russia Think Tanks (NARTT)
• The ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR)
• The Global Centre for Mekong Study (GCMS)
• BIMSTEC Network of Policy Think Tanks (BNPTT)
• Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP)
• Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS)
• Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD)