Myanmar's peace process is lurching forward, though not in the way the government may have hoped. Of the more than 20 ethnic groups fighting in the country, only two of significant size have signed a national cease-fire accord. And signing the accord could be a requirement for participating in an upcoming government conference that is the next step in the thus-far fruitless attempt to end decades of conflict in the country. On April 25, the government announced that the long-delayed second round of its "21st Century Panglong Conference" will start May 24. However, only signatories of the 2015 Nationwide Cease-Fire Agreement (NCA) are expected to be allowed to attend. Of the eight groups that have signed it, six are either minor insurgencies or essentially civil-society groups with little to no firepower.