Since 1989, the Burmese regime--currently known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)-has brokered more than twenty cease-fire agreements with armed opposition groups across the country. While the cease-fire agreements did little to resolve the underlying political conflicts that gave rise to the insurgent movements, they nonetheless served a tactical purpose. Armed groups that "returned to the legal fold" (i.e., publicly acknowledged the legitimacy of the regime) were able to retain some administrative control over large and frequently discontinuous pieces of territory as well as the populations and resources within. In exchange, the cease-fire agreements made it possible for the regime's armed forces (Tatmadaw) to concentrate counterinsurgency operations in a steadily decreasing number of areas around the country. Together, these related processes have dramatically enlarged the amount of territory over which the regime can claim to assert its permanent authority.