Myanmar: Regressed, Stalled, or Moving Forward? is the latest report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Drawing on a six-day, four-city, fact-finding mission conducted in mid-August, it provides, in just 13 pages of text, an excellent overview of where things stand with Myanmar’s transition.

The greatest concerns listed in the report are “a horrible humanitarian catastrophe and a paralyzed political crisis” in Rakhine State, Buddhist-on-Muslim violence far beyond that state, land grabs in many parts of the country, and the recent crackdown on journalists. The core components of transitional momentum are said to be peace negotiations, elections, economic development, education and health.

At a time when there’s a tendency to bemoan the long shadow cast by next year’s general election, I found this a sensible comment (on page 2): “Though national elections in November 2015 are still more than a year away, the delegation was impressed that the electoral season is already in full swing and has become the central prism driving parties’ behavior as well as popular expectations.” The report also fairly acknowledges recent successes. This is from page 8: “Over the past three years, there has been significant progress in health.” To close, US policymakers, praised as “skilled, innovative, and careful”, are advised to stick to their chosen “middle path”.

All in all, this is a very solid brief analysis, highly recommended to anyone seeking a snapshot of transitional progress. To the question posed in the title, “The short answer is all of the above”.