In early November, Myanmar popped into the periphery of the corporate press, as a coalition of rebel ethnic paramilitary forces began overrunning military outposts and towns in the country’s north and west. With a series of coordinated rebel offenses continuing, two weeks later came reports that neighboring China was mobilizing for military drills along its lengthy, densely jungled border with Myanmar. Reports of continued fighting and of the millions that have already been displaced continued in the ensuing weeks, while CNN gleefully proclaimed the Beijing-allied military junta in Naypyidaw...