An important step towards returning peace to Myanmar, after more than six decades of civil war, kicks off today, Aug. 31, with the start of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference. Previous efforts to bring all the ethnic rebel groups to the negotiating table have failed for various reasons, largely the gaping mistrust between successive military governments and the ethnic armed organizations, many of whom have been fighting for autonomy since the formation of the Union of Myanmar in 1948. But this may be about to change.