USA-Burma relations
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
About 612,000 results (August 1017)
Source/publisher:
Various sources via Youtube
Date of entry/update:
2017-08-22
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
more
Description:
Laws, rules, regulations and other documents related to the US Burma sanctions
Source/publisher:
US Department of the Treasury (Office of Foreign Assets Control - OFAC)
Date of entry/update:
2012-09-12
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English (Spanish also available)
more
Description:
About 19,800 results for a search for "Burma Or Myanmar" on the CSIS site, September 2012
Source/publisher:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Date of entry/update:
2012-09-12
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
About 16,700,000 results (23 November 2016)
Source/publisher:
Google
Date of entry/update:
2016-11-22
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
Search for Burma
Source/publisher:
United States Dept of State
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
US Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"The Biden administration has formally determined that the military takeover in Myanmar constitutes a coup d'état, a designation that requires the US to cut its foreign assistance to the country.
"After careful review of the facts and circumstances, we have assessed that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's ruling party, and Win Myint, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February 1," a State Department official said Tuesday, using another name for Myanmar. "We continue to call on the Burmese military leadership to release them and all other detained civil society and political leaders immediately and unconditionally."
The United States provides "very little" foreign assistance directly to Myanmar's government and "the government of Burma, including the Burmese military, is already subject to a number of foreign assistance restrictions, including statutory restrictions on military assistance, due to its human rights record."
The State Department official, speaking on a call with reporters, said the administration "will undertake a broader review of our assistance programs to ensure they align with recent events." That review will begin "immediately" and will "look at any programs that indirectly benefit the military or individual low level officers."
"At the same time, we will continue programs that benefit the people of Burma directly, including humanitarian assistance and democracy support programs that benefit civil society. A democratic civilian led government has always been Burma's best opportunity to address the problems the country faces," the official said..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Well, Myanmar, we’ve had some good times, but it’s time for me to leave. Hear that, America? I’m finally coming back.
Description:
"After four-and-a-half years, I will try to improve my own country with the lessons I have learned, and likewise leave Myanmar with some parting advice.
USA: Make America Fun Again with KTV
My first group of Yangon friends loved nothing more than to crowd into a private KTV (karaoke) room, get drunk on tequila and belt out Abba and Backstreet Boys louder than Boris Johnson before a Brexit vote. While my current generation of expat friends do not enjoy KTV, they are also pretentious ice queens with sticks up their butts.
Myanmar: Ease up on the air con
Do your bus companies think passengers spoil if you don’t keep us at meat locker temperatures throughout the ride? Seriously..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2020-02-22
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"People from Myanmar who now live in the American state of Indiana home are feeling the impacts of Washington’s recent travel ban, according to the Indy Channel.
They are getting ready to help their community celebrate Myanmar Union Day, marking 73 years since the southeast Asian country became free of British rule. While they plan to celebrate this culturally significant holiday, the recent addition of Myanmar to The White House's Travel Ban will be hanging over them.
"This is a great concern to the community," Elaisa Vahnie, Burmese American Community Institute Executive Director, told the channel. He said the travel ban is already impacting people who planned to reunite with their family in the United States..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Move could reignite debate over whether policy discriminates against Muslims, although most nations added do not have Muslim majorities...Other countries facing new restrictions are Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan.
Description:
"The Trump administration said on Friday it will add six new countries to its travel ban, part of an election-year crackdown that could reignite debate over whether the policy discriminates against Muslims.
Restrictions on entering the US will now apply to certain travellers and migrants from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, as well as Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.
The updated policy would not completely ban all citizens of those countries from coming to the US, but instead would limit access to certain kinds of visas. Unlike the initial list, most of the countries just added do not have Muslim-majority populations. Under the plan, immigration visas will be suspended for Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, and Nigeria. Access to the diversity lottery programme will be limited for Sudan and Tanzania, and the new restrictions will go into place in 21 days..."
Source/publisher:
"Bloomberg News" (New York) via "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-02-01
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is in breach of a global convention banning chemical weapons and may have a stockpile left over from the 1980s, the United States said on Monday.
The Southeast Asian nation may still have weapons at a “historic” facility where mustard gas was produced, a senior State Department official told the annual meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Myanmar officially joined the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the production, storage and use of chemical arms, in 2015.
“The U.S. has serious concerns that a chemical weapons stockpile may remain at Myanmar’s historical chemical weapons facility,” Thomas DiNanno, deputy assistant secretary of state, told the OPCW in The Hague.
Washington had information that Myanmar “had a chemical weapons program in the 1980s that included a sulphur mustard development program and chemical weapons production facility,” he added.
“Based on available information, the United States certifies that Myanmar is in noncompliance with the CWC, due to its failure to declare its past chemical weapons program and to destroy its chemical weapons facility.”
Myanmar has previously faced accusations of storing and using such weapons.
In 2013, a parliamentary report said police had used phosphorus the previous year against protesters at a copper mine in the north of the country, causing severe burns..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Japan Times" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Tensions between the United States and China entered a dangerous new phase this week. For the first time in 25 years, US authorities labelled China a currency manipulator after the RMB fell below the 7 yuan-per-dollar level. This opens the door to the United States’ levelling sanctions against China as well even more extreme trade restrictions, as the global trade and technology war morphs into a currency war. The actions of the United States were arbitrary, to say the least, and have rocked global financial markets. The recent ‘ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’ shows that ASEAN countries are more and more wary of the approach being taken by the United States in the region. They are right to be worried.
Labelling China a currency manipulator made little sense, both economically and institutionally.
Economically, a weakening RMB is to be expected in the current economic circumstances. The Chinese economy has been slowing while the United States continues its longest economic boom in history. Chinese exports to the United States have been under increasing strain while escalating global risks have seen increased demand for safe haven US financial assets. All of these variables point to a weakening RMB against the US dollar. ‘They are not driving the currency down’ notes Marc Chandler, Chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, ‘but just accepting market forces’. Within a narrow band the Chinese monetary authorities let the currency settle where the market took it..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2019-08-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Asia relations, USA-Burma relations, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
39.4 KB (3 pages)
more
Description:
"The United States will go on supporting Myanmar's democratic transition and economic transformation, said Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, David R. Stilwell.
The remarks of David R. Stilwell came from his meeting with Union Minister Kyaw Tin of the Ministry of International Cooperation in Nay Pyi Taw on October 29.
In meeting with Union Minister Kyaw Tin, David R. Stilwell emphasized the United States will go on supporting Myanmar's democratic transition and economic transformation. The discussions outlined greater development in the role of Myanmar.
Both sides frankly discussed bilateral relations between Myanmar and the U.S, the partnership meeting of Myanmar and the U.S, increased investment in education and trade, latest developments taking place in Rakhine State, economic cooperation of Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), and continued cooperation with regional organizations including Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI).
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, David R. Stilwell called on State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi before meeting with Union Minister Kyaw Tin, according to the release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Description:
"The United States and Myanmar partners celebrated achievements in Myanmar’s melon, sesame, coffee, ginger, and soybean sectors at the #MarketNext event yesterday, according to a press release.
Agriculture is vital to the livelihoods of the majority of people in Myanmar. U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel answered questions from trade association leaders, farmers and other Myanmar partners during today’s event. He said, “Myanmar has tremendous potential to produce and export a wide range of agricultural products. Our programs are designed to help farmers and others expand quality production and find good markets that allow them to increase their incomes.”
The #MarketNext event marks the end of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Value Chains for Rural Development project. USAID invested $27 million from 2014-2019. This project has helped 40,000 farmers, at least a third of whom are women, and 400 private sector partners. Strong producer and exporter associations such as Myanmar Coffee Association, Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association, and the Sesame Farmer Development Association will carry on the work of helping farmers improve their production while also establishing new markets for Myanmar products..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rural development in Burma/Myanmar, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The United States said on Thursday (Sep 5) it was deeply concerned about the Myanmar army's filing of a lawsuit against a religious leader who told President Donald Trump the military oppressed Christians in the Buddhist-majority country.
The criminal complaint against Reverend Hkalam Samson "seeks to unduly limit his freedom of expression and potentially could disrupt his critical work on behalf of tens of thousands of internally displaced people," US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
She said the United States was "deeply concerned" by the lawsuit and that any decision to "arrest Reverend Samson on the basis of his protected speech would be deeply troubling."
Samson took part in a July meeting at the White House where victims of religious persecution from a number of countries met with Trump and other US officials..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" via Reuters
Date of publication:
2019-09-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is proving to be a major test of strategic economic cooperation between the United States and Japan one which reveals wider foreign policy differences between the allied nations.
Those differences make substantial collaboration towards realising a “free and open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) in specific countries difficult, despite joint strategic interests and aligned high-level political visions.
In Japan’s pursuit of a policy response to China’s infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), economic cooperation with partners in third countries to beef up the financing on offer has emerged as a key component.
Strategic commercial cooperation is arguably most opportune and necessary in Myanmar because the country is at a fraught stage in its democratisation, set into motion in 2010 when it pivoted to form closer ties with countries like the United States and Japan in order to reduce economic over-dependence on China..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Burma's economic relations with the USA, Japan-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
" Myanmar's navy will join maritime drills with the US in Southeast Asia next week, a spokesman said Wednesday (Aug 28), in a rare show of military cooperation despite Washington slapping sanctions on top army brass over the Rohingya crisis.
The inclusion in the drills does not violate US travel bans against Myanmar's commander-in-chief and three senior figures for overseeing a bloody campaign that drove 740,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh two years ago.
But there are growing calls to further isolate the military, expand sanctions and prosecute senior leadership for genocide against the stateless minority.
The drills come at a time of stepped-up US engagement in the region and tensions between China and several Southeast Asian nations over rival claims in the South China Sea.
"We were invited as part of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) for the exercise," said Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the commander-in-chief's office in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA"
Date of publication:
2019-08-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar continues to woo Japan and the US as a source of investments even as the global growth outlook dims considerably with investors preferring to stash their money in safe-haven assets such as US Treasuries and gold.
Description:
"State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who gave the keynote speech at the Myanmar-Japan-US Forum on Fostering Responsible Investment held on August 20, held up Myanmar’s strategic location between South Asia, China and the rest of ASEAN, a growing economy as well as reforms that were underway as reasons why US and Japanese investors should look to the country as an investment destination.
“Myanmar, positioned at the crossroads of Asia, constitutes a key bridge between East and West; a link between India and China, a doorway to ASEAN. Myanmar seeks to capitalise on this favourable position by connecting these rising geo-economic regions, offering a strategic trade conduit, providing a gateway to the Indian Ocean, and thus benefitting the country and the region broadly,” she said.
Her speech comes at a time when foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments, an indication of future FDI flows, has slowed down according to the December 2018 edition of the Myanmar Economic Monitor published by the World Bank.
The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) expects US$5.8 billion in FDI for the current fiscal year between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019, little changed from the $5.7 billion that was received in fiscal 2017/2018, which began on April 1, 2017 and ended on March 30, 2018. DICA data showed that for fiscal 2016/2017, the country received $6.6 billion of investments..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-08-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with the USA, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Japan-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"On Wednesday, Trump met with victims of religious persecution from countries including China, Turkey, North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar.
In a clip that's circulating online, a Rohingya refugee asked Trump what he planned to do about the genocide in Myanmar.
Trump responded: "Where is that?"
A man next to Trump said that it's next to Burma, which is incorrect. Myanmar used to be referred to as Burma.
Since 2017, more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar, according to the Human Rights Watch.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories..."
Source/publisher:
"Business Insider (BI)"
Date of publication:
2019-07-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The United States announced sanctions on Tuesday against the Myanmar military's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and other leaders it said were responsible for extrajudicial killings of Rohingya Muslims, barring them from entry to the United States..."
Source/publisher:
TRT World
Date of publication:
2019-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Discrimination against the Rohingya, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Washington ups pressure on Naypyitaw by sanctioning Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and three other top military officers
Description:
"The United States on Tuesday banned visits by Myanmar’s army chief and three other top officers due to their role in the “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya minority, urging accountability for their brutal campaign.
The State Department said it took action against army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the others after finding credible evidence they were involved in the violence two years ago that led about 740,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh.
“With this announcement, the United States is the first government to publicly take action with respect to the most senior leadership of the Burmese military,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, referring to the country’s previous name.
“We remain concerned that the Burmese government has taken no actions to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, and there are continued reports of the Burmese military committing human rights violations and abuses throughout the country,” he said in a statement.
The sanctions are the most visible sign of US disappointment with Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since it launched political reforms in 2011, with the military junta reconciling with Washington and eventually allowing an elected political leadership.
Also sanctioned were Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Brigadier General Than Oo and Brigadier General Aung Aung as well as the families of all four officers.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar refuses to grant the mostly Muslim Rohingya citizenship or basic rights and refers to them as “Bengalis,” inferring that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
UN investigators say the violence warrants the prosecution of top generals for “genocide” and the International Criminal Court has started a preliminary probe..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times"
Date of publication:
2019-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), US State Dept. - reports on human rights in Burma, Discrimination against the Rohingya, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Steps are the strongest the country has taken in response to massacres of minority Rohingya in 2017
Description:
"Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has announced sanctions on the Myanmar military’s commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and other military leaders over extrajudicial killings of Rohingya Muslims, barring them from entry to the United States.
The steps, which also covered Min Aung Hlaing’s deputy, Soe Win, and two other senior commanders and their families, are the strongest the United States has taken in response to massacres of minority Rohingya in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
“We remain concerned that the Burmese government has taken no actions to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, and there are continued reports of the Burmese military committing human rights violations and abuses throughout the country,” Pompeo said in a statement.
He said a recent disclosure that Min Aung Hlaing ordered the release of soldiers convicted of extrajudicial killings at the village of Inn Din during the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in 2017 was “one egregious example of the continued and severe lack of accountability for the military and its senior leadership.”
“The commander-in-chief released these criminals after only months in prison, while the journalists who told the world about the killings in Inn Din were jailed for more than 500 days,” Pompeo said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian"
Date of publication:
2019-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), US State Dept. - reports on human rights in Burma, Discrimination against the Rohingya, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The State Department on Tuesday sanctioned four top Myanmar military officials for human rights abuses against the Rohingya population in the country's northern Rakhine State.
In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the officials were responsible "for gross human rights violations," including extrajudicial killings, during the campaign of violence beginning in August 2017. Under the designations, Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar's Armed Forces Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Brigadier General Than Oo, Brigadier General Aung Aung and their families will not be permitted to enter the United States.
A senior State Department official told reporters Tuesday that they believe the designations "send a message to other Burmese officials that should they commit atrocities or other serious human rights abuses, there will be consequences under US law." However, in a statement, Pompeo noted that the US remains "concerned that the Burmese government has taken no actions to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, and there are continued reports of the Burmese military committing human rights violations and abuses throughout the country." The violence against the Rohingya was "extreme, large-scale, widespread, and seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the Rohingya residents," a US State Department report from September 2018 found.
The report suggested that Myanmar's security forces engaged in a "well planned and coordinated" campaign of violence against the Muslim minority that included mass killings, sexual violence and destruction of villages. Information collected by a UN fact-finding mission "suggests that the estimate of up to 10,000 deaths is a conservative one," their extensive report from August 2018 noted. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled into neighboring Bangladesh. As of June, more than 900,000 remain in Cox's Bazar, according to a UN report..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN"
Date of publication:
2019-07-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), US State Dept. - reports on human rights in Burma, Discrimination against the Rohingya, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"As Trump administration focuses on Southeast Asia, concerns over its approach to Burma...From Capitol Hill to Rangoon, the question is whether the Trump administration will continue to support de facto Burmese leader Aung Saan Suu Kyi and her country as the nation transitions to democracy..."
David Nakamura
Source/publisher:
"Washington Post"
Date of publication:
2017-05-06
Date of entry/update:
2017-05-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Treading between major powers, Myanmar is likely to continue its diplomatic balancing act...
Aung San Suu Kyi was quick to congratulate U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on his recent victory, but there is no doubt that Myanmar?s state counselor, her government and probably most of the country would have preferred to see Hillary Clinton installed in the White House next year.
Not only was Clinton a driving force behind President Barack Obama?s successful and farsighted policy of "pragmatic engagement" with Myanmar, but she was familiar with the country and established a personal rapport with Suu Kyi. Under a Clinton administration, Myanmar would have been treated very sympathetically by the U.S., which would have been appreciated by the state counselor and her fledgling National League for Democracy government as they struggle to cope with Myanmar?s modernization and democratization.
Naypyitaw has other good reasons to be grateful to the Obama administration, and Clinton in particular. During Suu Kyi?s visit to Washington in September, for example, it was announced that economic sanctions against Myanmar would be lifted, in order to unleash the country?s "enormous potential." Earlier, Obama had notified the U.S. Congress that he would be reinstating preferential tariffs for Myanmar under the Generalized System of Preferences, which provides duty-free access for goods from poor and developing countries.
The future of the bilateral relationship under a Trump presidency is more difficult to predict. Specific policies are either unknown, or the subject of inconsistent statements. Some positions taken by the president-elect during his campaign have already been subject to unexpected reversals. A number of key executive appointments have yet to be made. Even so, it is possible to speculate about some Myanmar-related issues that are bound to arise after Trump takes office in January..."
Andrew Selth
Source/publisher:
Nikkei Asian Review
Date of publication:
2016-12-03
Date of entry/update:
2017-04-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
The Generals and Aung San Suu Kyi...New Government Moves Cautiously on Economic Reform...Building a New Peace Architecture...Rebuilding the Neglected Health Care System...Addressing Communal Conflict in Rakhine...Myanmar and the United States...Next Steps in U.S. Policy toward Myanmar.....
"Five months after Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to
power in Myanmar in April following their stunning landslide victory in the November 2015
national elections, the new government is still very much in transition. Although the military
that ran the country for 50 years did its best not to turn over the top slot to Aung San Suu Kyi,
the country?s leading generals appear to be trying to prove they can play ball with the new
largely civilian government.
It will now be up to Aung San Suu Kyi to push forward the reforms that former president
Thein Sein launched in 2011. The Myanmar she is leading today is a better place than it was
six years ago when the military freed her from house arrest, launched peace talks with ethnic
armed groups, and mounted tentative economic reforms. It is a much freer country that has
expanded its foreign ties far beyond its one
-time patron China, which the military junta
heavily depended on for investment and military equipment. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) between May 29 and June 4
organized a delegation to Myanmar to evaluate the country?s political and economic
transition, the peace process with the country?s ethnic armed groups, the situation of
Muslims in Rakhine State, the health care system, and role of the United States in supporting
reform and development. CSIS?s Southeast Asia Program and the Global Health Policy Center
jointly organized the trip, which included several senior congressional staff.
The delegation visited Yangon, Naypyitaw, and Rakhine State, and met with senior Union
government officials, parliamentarians, Rakhine State officials, internally displaced persons in
camps near Sittwe, U.S. Embassy officials, international organizations, nongovernmental
organizations, business representatives, journali
sts, and scholars and activists. This report is a
summary of the group?s observations and findings.
It was obvious to the group that the new government still faces daunting tasks on the road to
democracy and its success is by no means assured. One of its
biggest challenges is trying to hammer out a peace deal with the country?s roughly two
-dozen ethnic armed groups that
have fought the central government since the 1950s.
Another challenge is achieving harmony between the country?s majority Buddhists and
minority Muslims, particularly in Rakhine State, and forging a nation from a patchwork of
different ethnic and religious groups that never worked together before. The country?s
majority Burman population is highly enthusiastic that Aung San Suu Kyi has assumed power,
and most ordinary Burmans seem convinced that she can somehow magically fix the
country?s longstanding challenges. Meanwhile, many among the ethnic minorities, who make
up roughly a third of the population, are concerned that their grievances and interests will
continue to be neglected under the new government.
A third task is promoting inclusive economic growth in a country where most of the wealth
was long controlled by a small military
-backed elite and the infrastructure is woefully
dilapidated and overextended. A fourth is reducing the outsized role of the military in
controlling the government and the economy.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party are wildly popular, but because they have never run a
government before, they are still figuring out
how to craft and implement policies. All
decisions seem to go to Aung San Suu Kyi, who assumed the newly created position of state
counselor because her route to the presidency was blocked by the military
-drafted 2008
constitution, which bars individuals with foreign family ties from the highest office. So far the
newly minted leader tends to be a bit of a micromanager and not a great consulter, resulting
in considerable gridlock across various government agencies. She also acts as her own
spokesperson, which means the new government has been slow in effectively
communicating and marketing its policies..."
Murray Hiebert, Audrey Jackson, Phuong Nguyen
Source/publisher:
CSIS SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM and CSIS GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY CENTER
Date of publication:
2016-09-26
Date of entry/update:
2016-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dialogue/reform/transition after the NLD election victory, USA-Burma relations, General studies and surveys on health in Burma
Language:
English
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"The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country?s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labour.
The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite U.S. efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China?s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing?s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Myanmar?s demotion, part of the State Department?s closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report due to be released on Thursday, also appears intended to send a message of U.S. concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority nation.
The country?s new leader, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticized internationally for neglecting the Rohingya issue since her administration took office this year.
Washington has faced a complex balancing act over Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that has emerged from decades of international isolation since launching sweeping political changes in 2011.
President Barack Obama?s diplomatic opening to Myanmar is widely seen as a key foreign policy achievement as he enters his final seven months in office, but even as he has eased some sanctions he has kept others in place to maintain leverage for further reforms.
At the same time, Washington wants to keep Myanmar from slipping back into China?s orbit at a time when U.S. officials are trying to forge a unified regional front.
The U.S. decision to drop Myanmar to ?Tier 3,” the lowest grade, putting it alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, was confirmed by a U.S. official in Washington and a Bangkok-based official from an international organisation informed of the move. Another person familiar with the matter said: ?I?m not going to turn you away from this conclusion.” All spoke on condition of anonymity..."
Source/publisher:
Reuters UK
Date of publication:
2016-06-29
Date of entry/update:
2016-06-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Title: SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR: Why the U.S. Should Maintain Existing Sanctions Authority
Description:
Summary: "Is now the time for the U.S. Government to drop all sanctions on Myanmar (also known as Burma)? A network of corporate lobbyists and business associations are seeking to convince the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to lift all remaining sanctions on the country by letting the existing sanctions authority expire this month.
At the core of their argument is the idea that the situation in Myanmar has fundamentally changed for the better and that economic sanctions are no longer necessary or productive.
Fortify Rights and United to End Genocide interviewed 43 eyewitnesses and survivors of human rights abuses as well as U.N. officials and others in Yangon Division, Rakhine State, and Kachin State in Myanmar in March and April 2016 to assess whether the U.S. Government should maintain its authority to sanction Myanmar or let it lapse this month.
Given the current political landscape in Myanmar and ongoing egregious human rights violations, this report recommends that President Obama renew the sanctions authority on Myanmar for at least another year..."
Tom Andrews, David Baulk, Matthew Smith, Amy Smith, Daniel Sullivan.
Source/publisher:
Fortify Rights, United to End Genocide
Date of publication:
2016-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-05-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Formal Sanctions
Language:
English
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pdf
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1.83 MB
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Description:
"To ensure the success of Myanmar?s historic democratic transition, the United States should revise its outdated and counterproductive sanctions policy, writes Priscilla A. Clapp in a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations? Center for Preventive Action.
When the Aung San Suu Kyi?led National League for Democracy assumes power in Myanmar next week, the party will inherit the long-standing problems that developed in the country?s half-century of military dictatorship. U.S. support for a successful transition will help strengthen the newly elected government and prevent a return to martial law.
"Continuing to rely on a sanctions regime—designed primarily to inhibit U.S. participation in and assistance to Myanmar?s economy and government—no longer makes sense, particularly when Western allies and others observe no restrictions on their activities in Myanmar," Clapp contends in the Council Special Report, Securing a Democratic Future for Myanmar. "Washington should therefore restructure the remaining financial sanctions and restrictions to carefully target individuals and entities to promote better behavior, rather than punish bad behavior."..."
Priscilla A. Clapp
Source/publisher:
[US] Council on Foreign Relations
Date of publication:
2016-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-04-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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SUMMARY: "When US President Barack Obama first articulated his administration?s goal of a diplomatic rebalance to Asia, he outlined three areas in which the US government would focus its attentions: increased strategic and military ties, better economic integration, and greater attention to promoting democracy and human rights.
Obama outlined the last prong of the rebalance in a speech in Australia on November 17, 2011:
-Every nation will chart its own course. Yet it is also true that certain rights are universal; amongthem, freedom of speech, freedom ofthe press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the freedom of citizens to choose their own leaders.
-These are not American rights ... or Western rights. These are human rights. They stir in every soul, as we?ve seen in the democracies that have succeeded here in Asia. Other models have been tried and they have failed - fascism and communism, rule by one man or rule by committee. And they failed for the same simple reason: they ignore the ultimate source of power and legitimacy - the will ofthe people.
On February 15-16, 2016, President Obama will host 10 government leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fora summit at the Sunnylands estate in California.
For decades, the United States government has viewed ASEAN as an important economic, security, and political partner, and has forged closer ties with ASEAN countries as they have undergone major economic and political changes. In recent years, some countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, have made steady though uneven progress toward becoming democratic states with increasing respect for basic human rights. Most recently, in November 2015 the military junta in Burma allowed the opposition to contest elections and accepted the landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy— though it still maintains broad constitutional powers and de facto control over security forces and large parts ofthe economy.
Many ASEAN countries, however, continue to be plagued by deep-seated political and economic problems. As the chapters below outline, most of ASEAN?s 10 members have extraordinarily poor human rights records. Beyond the lack of basic freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in many countries, problems across ASEAN include restrictions on civil society, failures on women?s rights, the political use of courts, high-level corruption, lack of protection of refugees and asylum seekers, human trafficking, and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
For President Obama, the February 2016 US-ASEAN summit represents another chapter in the continuing efforts to rebalance attention to the Asia region. For many of ASEAN?s leaders—in particular those who have not come to power through free and fair elections— the summit represents an unearned diplomatic reward: a robust US reaffirmation of their sought-for legitimacy as leaders ofthe 615 million people who live in ASEAN.
One particularly egregious example is the invitation to the summit for Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha, who took power in a 2014 military coup, dismantled democratic institutions, and has led a relentless crackdown on critics and dissidents. Prayut has consistently delayed the date for a return to democratic rule, making it clear that he expects the army to manage the country?s affairs even after a vote for a new parliament is held.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam and President Choummaly Sayasone of Laos preside over one-party authoritarian states that deny basic freedoms and use censorship, detention, and torture to maintain their party?s hold on power. The communist party of each country has been in power since 1975 and have shown no interest in moving towards pluralism or genuine elections.
The sultan of Brunei, Hassal Bolkiah, is one ofthe world?s few remaining hereditary government leaders and has imposed a near complete ban on freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. He plans to increase the imposition of Islamic law punishments, including whipping and stoning, foradultery, sex between unmarried persons, and homosexual activity.
The prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, retained power in 2014 after a deeply flawed electoral process in which his party, which has been in power since 1967, lost the popular vote. Implicated in a major corruption scandal, he has engaged in a broad crackdown on Malaysia?s political opposition, civil society organizations, and media..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2016-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations, USA-Asia relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
5.6 MB 14.8 MB
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Description:
Abstract: "This article provides an overview both of the considerable
makeover that relations between the United States and Myanmar have
undergone since Naypyidaw ushered in a programme of wide-ranging
reforms, and of the main policy areas in relation to which Washington
remains keen to induce further change. The article also aims to explain
why, notwithstanding the significant improvement in bilateral relations
and the Obama administration?s interest in also pursuing military engagement,
progress in this field has remained rather limited. Focusing on
the politics of US policymaking on Burma, the article argues that while
the Obama administration was able to take the initiative on recalibrating
US Burma policy, congressional resistance in particular, amid wider concerns
shared by non-governmental organisations, has so far constrained
the administration vis-à-vis US?Myanmar military-to-military relations.".....
Keywords: US?Myanmar relations, US Burma policy, military engagement,
congressional foreign policy entrepreneurship
Jürgen Haacke
Source/publisher:
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs , 34, 2
Date of publication:
2015-09-04
Date of entry/update:
2015-10-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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pdf
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249.88 KB
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Description:
"This letter was sent to US President Barack Obama ahead of his November 2014 visit to Myanmar. The letter explains the negative effects of ongoing militarisation on villagers in Southeast Myanmar and asks President Obama to intervene with the Myanmar Government to persuade them to remove their troops from civilian areas and to hold soldiers who have committed human rights abuses responsible for their actions."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2014-11-06
Date of entry/update:
2015-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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pdf
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113 KB
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Description:
"The main purpose of Obama?s trip, the official said, is for Obama to attend the East Asia Summit in Naypyitaw, where he will also attend the U.S.-ASEAN summit. However, while there he will also meet with Myanmar President Thein Sein, and will meet with Suu Kyi in Yangon November 14."
Steve Hirsch
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat"
Date of entry/update:
2015-01-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"A gathering of youth leaders from all ten ASEAN countries applauded as U.S. President Barack Obama opened his address with the Burmese greeting, ?Myanmar, mingalaba!"...In his opening remarks, the president cited the various reasons for his administration?s consistent focus on Southeast Asian affairs, including the years he spent as a child in Indonesia and the fact that one tenth of the world population lives in Southeast Asia, two thirds of whom are under 35 years old..."
Jacob Goldberg
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat"
Date of publication:
2014-11-15
Date of entry/update:
2015-01-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"United States President Barack Obama will be in Myanmar this week for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. Unlike his state visit in November 2012, Obama is said to be acutely aware that the upcoming stopover cannot be used as a platform to congratulate himself as "Myanmar as a success story" for his foreign policy.
This is because Obama?s Myanmar policy honeymoon has already turned into what New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof calls "a global nightmare". Uncharacteristically, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has recently told the international media that the US government is "overly optimistic" about reforms in her country and challenges anyone to prove her wrong."
Maung Zarni
Source/publisher:
Asia Times Online
Date of publication:
2014-11-14
Date of entry/update:
2015-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Is Myanmar?s reform effort going into reverse?
Not even close. Yet if international support for its political transition seriously weakens in the face of recent setbacks, the prophecies of Myanmar?s critics may be fulfilled. The international community needs to show staying power and accept that the road to reform is long.
Myanmar is four years into a transition from 50 years of authoritarian rule and chronic, grinding civil conflicts. That change was never going to be easy. We should not be surprised that certain areas remain problematic or new difficulties arise...The West has a choice: Whether to stand on the sidelines and withholding support until there is a perfect outcome in Myanmar, or to engage in the messy but vital business of working with Myanmar as it changes from a closed authoritarian country to a more open, democratic and prosperous society...
When Obama offered a hand to Myanmar in 2011, it was the beginning of a long journey. It is one the United States and the international community would be best advised to continue."
Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Richard Horsey, Reuters
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group
Date of publication:
2014-11-19
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"...The burning question in Washington about Myanmar?s transition is: are things
regressing, stalled, or moving forward?
The short answer is all of the above.
The Union of Myanmar is in the third year of a historic transition. Like other
comparable transitions of countries emerging from decades of misrule and
repression, the process is exceedingly complex and cannot be reduced to simple,
categorical, or fixed characterizations. Change is fluid and nonlinear, spread across
the multiple, interlocking sectors: health and development, human rights,
constitutional change, electoral preparations, the search for peace, and economic
reform and revitalization. A transition scorecard paints a mixed picture that is
simultaneously positive, bewildering, and downright frustrating. Myanmar elicits a full range of emotions and interpretations. The current process
unfolding calls for humility, patience, realism, and the long view. A rush to snap
judgments is ill-advised. For better or worse, Myanmar is presently beset with
turbulence and uncertainty...What follows is a summary of CSIS?s observations and thoughts on strengthening U.S.
support for Myanmar?s transition. It attempts to synthesize, succinctly and fairly,
what was learned through rich conversations with a multitude of individuals representing diverse interests and perspectives..."
J. Stephen Morrison, Murray Hiebert RADM Thomas Cullison (USN Ret.), Todd Summers, Sahil Angelo
Source/publisher:
Center for Strategic & International Studies
Date of publication:
2014-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.23 MB
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Description:
"...For President Obama the journey to Myanmar is a deeply symbolic one too. The fact that he received Myanmar government support to address an audience at the University of Yangon is key. After decades as a locus for political strife, the campus is still largely off-limits: a dented shell, rotting, tragic. In the old days I recall being gently shooed away from its vicinity, and I am yet, I must confess, to step foot on its contested ground.
Elsewhere in the country I have spent time at a number of Universities, Colleges and the like. They are almost all in various states of decrepitude: hollowed out by dictatorial assessments of the uniquely destabilising potential of youth.
My guess is that at the University today President Obama will use the podium to offer his special support to those who want to re-build Myanmar?s education system. Naturally he will also endorse those who seek to reform other facets of national life. He will then probably sound a note of warning about the need to build real peace with ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya. But his big message, if his speech writers have got the tone right, will be addressed to Myanmar?s rising generations.
If Myanmar is to be a happier, wealthier and more inclusive society then the old generals will need to continue to surrender power and control. Who will replace them? With the results of the April 2012 by-election still reverberating, the Myanmar people seem convinced that the next government should be headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. But then who?
In the excitement, we should not forget that it will be the young people in the audience and on the streets who will ultimately determine the country?s destiny. Will their elders give them the chances they so clearly deserve?"
Nicholas Farrelly
Source/publisher:
"New Mandala"
Date of publication:
2012-11-19
Date of entry/update:
2014-07-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"President Obama just concluded visit to Southeast Asia, which has sparked considerable media comment and criticism from human rights activists. Some of them claimed that the visit sent the wrong signal to repressive governments in Myanmar and Cambodia.
In Myanmar, the visit was designed to highlight progress toward democratic reform made by the new nominally civilian government headed by Thein Sein since it replaced the military junta that had governed the country since 1972. Actions by the Myanmar government have included the release from house arrest of opposition activist and 1991 Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the freeing many (but not all) political prisoners, relaxation of strict controls on the media and the holding of a largely free and fair by election to fill some 40 parliamentary seats rendered vacant when the incumbents were appointed to senior government positions. Most notably Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to participate in these elections, winning a parliamentary seat and thus becoming the leader of the opposition.
These dramatic developments have won widespread praise from the international community and the US government, which has responded by relaxing economic sanctions against the military regime and sending an Ambassador to Myanmar for the first time in over twenty years. More rewards are promised if the new government continues on its current reformist course, including the release of all remaining political prisoners and opening of the country to outside investment. Obama?s visit was intended as part of this gradual tit for tat process toward democracy and openness to the outside world..."
Don Jameson
Source/publisher:
"New Mandala"
Date of publication:
2012-11-21
Date of entry/update:
2014-07-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"New legislation signals growing concern over the Obama administration?s Myanmar policy...Recent legislation introduced to U.S. Congress to put conditions on U.S. cooperation with Myanmar?s military may be one of the first signs of emerging dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama?s rapprochement policy with the post-junta government.
The bill was sponsored in the House of Representatives April 2 by Republican Steve Chabot, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and Democrat Joseph Crowley. It grows out of concerns that the Obama administration, having begun limited cooperation with Myanmar?s military, is moving too quickly without demanding reforms from Myanmar first. The bill is a modification of similar, earlier bipartisan House and Senate legislation and follows enactment of language in a funding law limiting spending for assistance to Myanmar..."
Steve Hirsch
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat"
Date of publication:
2014-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2014-07-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"After a period of broad bipartisan support, US President Barack Obama?s cautious opening towards Myanmar?s reformist quasi-civilian government is starting to meet resistance in Congress. Concerns center on Obama?s budding engagement with Myanmar?s rights-abusing military and his administration?s reluctance to place preconditions on expanding strategic ties..."
Steve Hirsch
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2014-07-02
Date of entry/update:
2014-07-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Myanmar has made important progress toward democratic reform since President Thein Sein?s civilian government came to power in early 2011. Significant challenges, however, remain and could scuttle efforts at change. Key among these are the peace process between the government and armed ethnic groups in the border regions; communal tensions in Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh and in central Myanmar; and the free and fair conduct of the 2015 general elections, which could also impact the peace process and communal relations. This report explores the United States? interests in peace in Myanmar and offers recommendations for how Washington can best promote it..."
Lynn Kuok
Source/publisher:
Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS)
Date of publication:
2014-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2014-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.69 MB
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Description:
U.S. Relations With Burma:
The United States supports a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Burma that respects the human rights of all its peoples. Elections in November 2010 led to a peaceful transition from sixty years of military rule to a quasi-civilian government headed by President Thein Sein. Under President Thein Sein, the Government of Burma has initiated a series of political and economic reforms which have resulted in a substantial opening of the long-isolated country. These reforms include the release of many political prisoners, ceasefire agreements with 12 of 13 major non-state armed groups, greater freedom of the press, and parliamentary by-elections in 2012 in which pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party won 43 of the 44 seats they contested (out of 45) gaining approximately 11% representation in parliament.
The Obama Administration has employed a calibrated engagement strategy to recognize the positive steps undertaken to date and to incentivize further reform. The guiding principles of this approach have been to support Burma?s political and economic reforms; promote national reconciliation; build government transparency, and accountability and institutions; empower local communities and civil society; and promote responsible international engagement and human rights.
As part of our calibrated approach to support further reform, the United States has restored full diplomatic relations, re-established a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in country, supported assessment missions and technical assistance by international financial institutions, and eased financial and investment sanctions against Burma. President Obama?s trip to Burma in November 2012, the first visit of a sitting U.S. President, demonstrated the United States? continuing support to Burma in its political and economic reform efforts...More information about Burma is available from the Department of State and other sources, some of which are listed here:
Department of State Burma Country Page
Doing Business in Burma page
Department of State Key Officers List
CIA World Factbook Burma Page
USAID Burma Page
Human Rights Reports
International Religious Freedom Reports
Trafficking in Persons Reports
Narcotics Control Reports
Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions Page"
Source/publisher:
US Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Date of publication:
2013-08-13
Date of entry/update:
2014-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"If a press statement from the US Department of Defense is to be believed, President Barack Obama is quite pleased with the reform process underway in Myanmar, especially recent progress ??that?s been made on human rights??. The message was conveyed by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in late August when he met with his counterparts from the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Brunei, including Lieutenant-General Wai Lwin, the current defense minister of Myanmar, a former pariah state turned darling of the West.
But there was an important caveat in Hagel?s statement that indicated Washington?s main concern in Myanmar is not
democracy and human rights. Rather, he stressed ??it?s important that Myanmar sever ties with North Korea??.
Evidently Myanmar has not rolled back relations with Pyongyang despite persistent pressure from Washington, including during then secretary of state Hillary Clinton?s historic visit to Myanmar in December 2011, and believed behind-the-scenes prodding from Japan and South Korea..."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2013-09-05
Date of entry/update:
2014-05-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma-US relations, North Korea (DPRK) -Burma relations, USA-Burma relations, Navy, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc)
Language:
English
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Description:
"In September 2009, Barack Obama?s administration announced a new U.S. policy direction
for relations with Burma/Myanmar. Over the past year, this new course has moved the United
States away from previous efforts to isolate Burma?s ruling generals, balancing economic sanctions
with ?pragmatic engagement? and initiating efforts to expand channels of communication with
the military leadership at higher levels of authority.
Against this backdrop, the Asia Society established a Task Force on U.S. Policy toward
Burma/Myanmar in the fall of 2009 to assess the shift in American policy and provide concrete
recommendations for how the United States could best approach this new path of engagement.
The Task Force?s report, Current Realities and Future Possibilities in Burma: Options for U.S. Policy,
was released in March 2010.1
With elections set to be held on November 7, the first in Burma in 20 years, this update
provides an overview of key developments in Burma since the Task Force?s report was published.
For reasons outlined here, it is clear that the upcoming elections will not be inclusive or fair. In
short, Burma?s military leaders have willfully ignored calls from the international community to
allow the full participation of opposition leaders and ethnic minorities in the elections..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Society
Date of publication:
2010-10-26
Date of entry/update:
2013-07-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Executive Summary: "In January 2012, an Asia Society delegation
visited Burma/Myanmar to engage in a Track
II dialogue with the Myanmar Development
Resources Institute (MDRI), a newly created,
independent think tank based in Yangon. The
MDRI participants in the dialogue include
advisors with a mandate to provide policy
advice in the areas of political, economic,
and legal affairs to President Thein Sein and
his government. The goal of this informal
dialogue is to establish an ongoing channel
of communication between experts from
both countries and to explore opportunities
to advance U.S.–Myanmar relations during a
particularly fluid and fragile period of transition
in Myanmar.
The Asia Society group includes specialists
in the areas of political affairs, rule of law,
democracy building, economic development,
and environmental sustainability. In addition to
the Track II meetings with presidential advisors,
our group held in-depth discussions with senior
officials in the following ministries: Foreign
Affairs, Culture, Commerce, Environmental
Conservation and Forestry, Health, Science
and Technology, Education, and Information.
Our group also met with business leaders;
members of civil society; representatives from
the National League for Democracy (NLD),
including Aung San Suu Kyi; and a wide array
of community activists, including minority
nationalities.
This effort builds on the work carried out
by Asia Society?s Task Force on U.S. Policy
toward Burma/Myanmar, as well as seminal
meetings convened by Asia Society in New York
in September 2011 that brought together for
the first time policy makers from Myanmar, the
United States, and the broader international
community to informally discuss prospects for
reform in Myanmar.
This report provides our assessment of
the nature of the changes that are under
way in Myanmar and the challenges and
vulnerabilities that the country faces. We
conclude by recommending measures that the
United States can undertake at this critical
moment to encourage, support, and advance the
institutionalization of sustainable democracy in
Myanmar."
PRISCILLA CLAPP, Suzanne DiMaggio
Source/publisher:
Asia Society
Date of publication:
2012-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2013-07-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
261.72 KB
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Description:
"...Transitions are never smooth, and it is likely that the situation on the ground in Myanmar will get
messier before it gets better, especially as we start to see winners and losers in the process. Economic
development will be uneven, investment will not be broad based, disputes over land rights will not
do all that it can to be a reliable partner to Myanmar as the country works to ensure that current
positive trends continue to 2015 and beyond..."
PRISCILLA CLAPP, Suzanne DiMaggio
Source/publisher:
Asia Society
Date of publication:
2013-06-24
Date of entry/update:
2013-07-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
321.3 KB
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Description:
"Key Conclusions:
Three interconnected and difficult issues need attention for the country to move forward—citizenship for the Rohingya; building capacity in the police to prevent violence against Muslims; and re-envisioning the country as one that is multi-ethnic, multilingual, and multi-religious.
The transition from authoritarian rule to democracy could take decades. Key waypoints are the 2015 elections, implementing constitutional reforms, and the achievement of true civilian leadership.
The US should engage on a broad range of issues and stop using sanctions as a diplomatic tool. An enduring partnership would involve sustained support for the transition across the spectrum of political interests, and transitional development assistance would expand to include programs for education, health, and the media..."
Jim Della-Giacoma
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (ICG)
Date of publication:
2013-05-21
Date of entry/update:
2013-06-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"President Obama made history today by becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Burma. During his six-hour visit, Obama met with President Thein Sein and visited the home of the opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, where she was confined under house arrest for most of two decades before her release two years ago. Obama?s new openness toward Burma has drawn concern from human rights activists who say such overtures of friendship are "premature" due to continuing political violence plaguing large swathes of the country. We?re joined by Jennifer Quigley of the U.S. Campaign for Burma and journalist Peter Popham, author of "The Lady and The Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi."
Source/publisher:
"Democracy Now"
Date of publication:
2012-11-19
Date of entry/update:
2012-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...?The US president?s trip means the United States has begun to focus more on Burma. It also means they have the political will to engage with Burma. It?s a good sign for anyone here who wants the democratic transition to succeed,? said author and Burmese historian Thant Myint-U, speaking to The Irrawaddy shortly after Obama?s speech..."
Kyaw Phyo Tha
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2012-11-20
Date of entry/update:
2012-11-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
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English
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President Obama gave a speech to a crowded Convocation Hall at Rangoon University. He lauded the country?s ongoing reform process, addressed the recent unrest in Arakan state and ceasefires with ethnic groups.
Source/publisher:
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) via Youtube
Date of publication:
2012-11-19
Date of entry/update:
2012-11-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"...The present danger in Myanmar is that the US and other Western nations have focused solely on the figures of Thein Sein and Suu Kyi, both of whom dominated the limelight during recent trips to the US. By contrast, ethnic minority groups, including the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Mon, and Shan, have received comparatively scarce attention and have generally been relegated to the margins of US and European engagement initiatives.
Minority ethnic groups, most of which have been disempowered, oppressed and impoverished by a succession of repressive military regimes for the past six decades, now find themselves at a significant disadvantage in bringing critical facts to the fore...
Washington would be well advised to take a more balanced approach to engagement and development in Myanmar and one more inclusive of ethnics, or risk a repeat of the interventions in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. "
Tim Heinemann
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2012-10-10
Date of entry/update:
2012-10-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Let me begin by stipulating my answers to several questions that have preoccupied us all over the last several years. We have debated whether any change could take place in Burma. Subsequently we debated whether any real change had transpired. Now we are debating whether enough change has taken place to satisfy us, on the assumption that we will decide the future of Burma. What nine separate trips in a little over two years have taught me are: 1) significant changes have already taken place, 2) reforms are real, and although there are certain to be setbacks, the reform trend seems likely to continue and 3) absent further changes the United States will be playing an increasingly marginal role in a fast-paced drama in which almost all other nations have dropped or suspended sanctions to take advantage of growing opportunities: ... U.S. National Interests... The questions with which we should be concerned now are: 1. Why should the US be interested in Myanmar? What long term U.S. national interests are involved in Myanmar? 2. What can the United States do now to encourage the emergence of a new, more peaceful, friendly, and democratic Myanmar?... In real estate three things determine value: location, location, and location. The same can be said of Myanmar. It is strategically situated below China, between the emerging mega-nations of Asia --- India and China. Myanmar has become increasingly reliant on China for weapons, official development assistance, and foreign direct investment. If Myanmar were to become a full-fledged client state of China, this would change the regional strategic balance. To avoid overdependence on any one nation, Myanmar officials over the past year have articulated a more omni-directional foreign policy that is equally friendly toward ASEAN, China, India, Japan, and the United States. Beneath the surface, even when the relationship with China seemed most intimate, Burmese nationalism and antipathy toward the growing number of Chinese nationals working inside Myanmar motivated the Myanmar elite (including most especially the military elite) to look outward, first to ASEAN and now to the entire outside world (including the United States). ... The United States could safely ignore more than fifty-five million people, living in a resource rich country the size of Texas, located just above the vital Strait of Malacca, as long as Myanmar was consumed by its own internal conflicts and led by a military elite that largely ignored, and was ignored by most of the outside world. As long as the outside world remained more or less uniformly willing to ignore Myanmar, the United States could afford to overlook Myanmar?s strategic and economic potential while concentrating almost exclusively on the odious qualities of the Burmese government. The world has changed. China has risen. The United States has pivoted back to Southeast Asia. Myanmar is now simply more accessible in political and economic terms than it has been for the last 50 years. Will the United States take advantage of the new opportunities or will it miss the boat?
Source/publisher:
Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Date of publication:
2012-04-26
Date of entry/update:
2012-10-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
SUMMARY:
"In August 2012, a group of senior CSIS Asia specialists visited Myanmar to explore the political, economic, and social reforms launched by the new civilian government and develop policy recommendations for the U.S. government. The trip is part of a Myanmar Project launched by CSIS and funded in part by the C.V. Starr Foundation. The CSIS delegation was led by Ernest Bower, director and senior adviser, Southeast Asia Program, and included Michael Green, senior vice president and Japan Chair, Christopher Johnson, senior adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies, and Murray Hiebert, deputy director and senior fellow, Southeast Asia Program. Eileen Pennington, deputy director of the Women?s Empowerment Program at the Asia Foundation, accompanied the group as an observer.
Myanmar is in the early stages of moving toward transformational change in nearly all respects, including political and economic reform, the opening of space for civil society, empowerment of women, defining foreign policy and national security priorities, and finding a path to reconciliation with its diverse ethnic groups. However, there was evidence that significant challenges remain with respect to governance and reconciliation with ethnic minorities and that rights abuses continue in some areas, despite the overall positive direction from the leadership of the new government. Real change appears to be under way, but it is not irreversible.
Myanmar?s government, opposition leaders, civil society groups, and business leaders all emphasized that there is an urgency and immediacy around the process of change in their country. The United States should be aware that there are important, perhaps even historic, opportunities to promote and support reform. It needs also to be aware of substantial threats to reform and transparency. Developing a policy to navigate through these opportunities and challenges will require thoughtful consideration and intense focus. Actions the United States takes in Myanmar are intrinsically linked to the U.S. relationship with ASEAN and its broader Asia Pacific regional strategy.
This report provides an executive summary of the CSIS team?s perspectives, shares its findings, and makes near-term recommendations for U.S. policy relating to Myanmar."
Ernest Bower, Michael Green, Christopher Johnson, Murray Hiebert
Source/publisher:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Date of publication:
2012-09-10
Date of entry/update:
2012-09-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"The United States should engage with Burma?s armed forces, collaborate with China and further roll back sanctions to enhance reforms, urges a leading think-tank.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) visited Burma in August to explore the current political, economic and social transformation enacted by President Thein Sein?s quasi-civilian government and reported that greater regional engagement was needed including joint military exercises.
?If the military continues to support the transition to civilian rule and observes ceasefires in ethnic minority areas, the United States should begin to consider joint military exercises with the Myanmar armed forces and provide selected Myanmar officers access to US International Military Education and Training opportunities in US defense academies,? read a CSIS report on the trip released on Wednesday..."
Charlie Campbell
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2012-09-12
Date of entry/update:
2012-09-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"WASHINGTON—The United States Senate on Friday confirmed the nomination of Derek Mitchell as the first US Ambassador to Burma in two decades. He is soon expected to travel to the country to head the mission in the country.
Mitchell, currently the special US representative and policy coordinator for Burma, has been a key player in implementing the Burma policy of the Obama administration. ?I congratulate Derek Mitchell on his confirmation as our ambassador to Burma,? said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
?He has done an excellent job in his current role as Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma. His experience will serve us well in the region as he builds on the strong foundation established by Michael Thurston and our embassy team in Rangoon,? McConnell said..."
Lalit K. Jha
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2012-07-02
Date of entry/update:
2012-07-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
SUMMARY: "Existing U.S. sanctions on Burma are based on various U.S. laws and presidential executive
orders. This report provides a brief history of U.S. policy towards Burma and the development of
U.S. sanctions, a topical summary of those sanctions, and an examination of additional sanctions
that have been considered, but not enacted, by Congress, or that could be imposed under existing
law or executive orders. The report concludes with a discussion of options for Congress.
The current U.S. sanctions on Burma were enacted, for the most part, due to what the U.S.
government saw as a general disregard by Burma?s ruling military junta, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), for the human rights and civil liberties of the people of Burma.
The actions of the new quasi-civilian government in Burma have initiated a discussion on when
and how to possibly remove some of the existing sanctions. The Obama Administration recently
announced it would for the first time in 21 years nominate a candidate to serve as U.S.
ambassador to Burma and would welcome a Burmese ambassador to the United States.
Burma-specific sanctions began following the Tatmadaw?s violent suppression of popular protests
in 1988, and have continued through several subsequent periods in which Congress perceived
major human rights violations in Burma. The result is a web of overlapping sanctions with
differing restrictions, waiver provisions, expiration conditions, and reporting requirements.
The United States currently imposes sanctions specifically on Burma via five laws and four
presidential documents. These sanctions can be generally divided into several broad categories,
such as visa bans, restrictions on financial services, prohibitions of Burmese imported goods, a
ban on new investments in Burma, and constraints on U.S. assistance to Burma. Past Congresses
have considered a variety of additional, stricter sanctions on Burma.
In addition to the targeted sanctions, Burma is currently subject to certain sanctions specified in
U.S. laws based on various functional issues. In many cases, the type of assistance or relations
restricted or prohibited by these provisions is also addressed under Burma-specific sanction laws.
The functional issues include the use of child soldiers, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money
laundering, failure to protect religious freedoms, violations of workers? rights, and threats to
world peace and the security of the United States.
On March 30, 2011, SPDC formally dissolved itself and transferred power to the new Union
Government, headed by President Thein Sein, ex-general and prime minister for the SPDC. On
four separate occasions since his appointment, President Thein Sein has ordered the release of
prisoners, including a number of political prisoners. The Union Government has also initiated
ceasefire talks with various ethnic-based militias, and altered laws to allow opposition parties to
participate in parliamentary elections. However, the continuation of serious human rights abuses
has raised questions about the extent to which there has been significant political change in
Burma. Consideration is being given by the Obama Administration to the selective removal or
alteration of sanctions as part of an effort to foster more reform in Burma.
The 112th Congress may consider either the imposition of additional sanctions or the removal of
some of the existing sanctions, depending on the conduct of Burma?s new Union Government and
other developments in Burma. This report will be updated as conditions warrant."
Michael F. Martin
Source/publisher:
Congressional Research Service
Date of publication:
2012-02-07
Date of entry/update:
2012-04-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?s symbolic visit to Myanmar can be chalked up as a "win" for President Thein Sein by achieving what military regimes were unable to do - garner a semblance of respect. That is tempered by the belief that concessions were as much about countering the regime?s ties to China and North Korea as promoting democracy. As the sincerity of reform is far from certain, the US is taking a gamble..."
Brian McCarten
Source/publisher:
Asia Times Online
Date of publication:
2011-12-04
Date of entry/update:
2011-12-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
Special Briefing
Senior State Department Official
En Route Busan, South Korea
November 29, 2011
Source/publisher:
US Department of State
Date of publication:
2011-11-29
Date of entry/update:
2011-12-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Over the past year, Myanmar, ruled for five decades by the military, has undergone its most dramatic reforms in decades.
A new civilian government has begun opening the economy, freeing political prisoners, relaxing censorship, and allowing
the opposition to reenter politics.
The reforms offer the best chance for change in Myanmar in fifty years and a rare window that American policymakers
should not miss. To respond, the United States should launch a new conditional normalization that is far more
comprehensive than the White House?s current policy. Working with other industrialized democracies, the United States
should be prepared to provide a large new aid package, upgrade relations, push for Myanmar?s reentry into global
organizations, and potentially end sanctions—if, in return, Myanmar continues to move toward holding free elections,
ending its insurgencies, and demonstrating real transparency about its weapons programs. Through this policy shift, the
United States could prevent instability that could spread to Thailand, India, and other partners; stop Myanmar?s
development of nuclear programs; and help promote democratization in one of the world?s most repressive countries..."
Joshua Kurlantzick
Source/publisher:
[US] Council on Foreign Relations (POLICY INNOVATION MEMORANDUM N O . 1 1)
Date of publication:
2011-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2011-12-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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pdf
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57.43 KB
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"...Department views the ?good offices” mission of the UN Secretary General?s Special Representative (SRSG) to Burma as an important vehicle for encouraging democratic progress in Burma. Consequently, Department has viewed with growing concern the lack of progress on core political steps that the UNSC called on Burma to take such as the immediate release of political prisoners and the opening of a meaningful, time-bound political dialogue with democratic and ethnic minority leaders, in particular, with Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK), over the course of SRSG Gambari?s four missions to Rangoon. Indeed, it appears that Gambari?s access to regime officials and ability to secure results has only contracted over the course of these missions. His access to democratic leaders has been constrained by both the regime and more recently a loss of confidence in Gambari among leaders of the democracy movement.
¶3. (C) Gambari appears unrealistically upbeat, pursuing and reporting progress on peripheral matters (e.g., a possible economic forum, the possible placement of a UN staff member in Rangoon) that are a distraction from what the Security Council has articulated as critical goals and identified as Gambari?s mandate..."
Source/publisher:
US Secretary of State via Wikileaks
Date of publication:
2008-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
A call for the US adminstration to help the casue of Burmese democracy.
Note:
Translator added additional information for Japanese readers.
(Japanese translation by Yuki Akimoto)
Source/publisher:
Washington Post via Burma Info
Date of publication:
2002-12-27
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
Japanese
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Description:
(Memorandum of April 12, 2001.)
Source/publisher:
The White House
Date of publication:
2001-04-12
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
(Memorandum of April 12, 2001.)
Source/publisher:
The White House
Date of publication:
2001-04-12
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Summary:
"During a one-hour meeting with Prime Minister Thein
Sein on August 14, Senator Webb requested a meeting with Aung
San Suu Kyi (ASSK) and urged her release from house arrest,
noting the positive impact it would have on bilateral
relations and Burma?s standing in the world. The Senator
also sought the release and deportation of detained American
John Yettaw. Using classic regime rhetoric, the PM
criticized sanctions as harming the economy and hindering
democracy, and explained the regime?s roadmap, promising
free, fair and inclusive elections. That said, the Prime
Minister made clear that Burma wants better relations with
the U.S. as well as the ability to communicate directly with
Washington; the regime has tapped Science and Technology
Minister and former Ambassador to the U.S. U Thaung as a
direct line to the GOB. The tone of the meeting was positive
and cordial, with both Senator Webb and the Prime Minister
citing the benefits that improved bilateral relations could
offer if certain issues are resolved." End summary.
Source/publisher:
US Embassy, Rangoon, via Wikileaks
Date of publication:
2009-08-17
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Summary: "Burma?s senior generals used Senator Webb?s visit to
deliver an unequivocal message: the GOB wants better
relations with the United States. They want direct
communication with Washington and have identified an envoy --
regime insider and former Ambassador to the United States U
Thaung. It is certain Than Shwe believes he has unclenched
its fist -- granting a first-ever meeting with a U.S.
official, arranging a session for Senator Webb with Aung San
Suu Kyi, and deporting an American prisoner as a sign of
"friendship." The generals will look for a response. We
should allow Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win to visit the
Embassy in Washington following UNGA. We should undertake
immediate discourse with U Thaung, including soon at the
Washington level, to sketch out mutual expectations.
Meanwhile, we should renew efforts publicly and privately to
encourage dialogue between the regime and a "pragmatic"
National League for Democracy, while seeking to consult with
ASSK throughout the process." End summary.
Source/publisher:
US Embassy, Rangoon, via Wikileaks
Date of publication:
2009-08-18
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Summary: " As the review of U.S. policy regarding Burma
continues amid signs that the military regime wants to engage
with Washington, we offer some thoughts about the senior
generals, what motivates them, what they might want from
engagement, and what the U.S. might place on the table.
Burma?s military machine is top-down, xenophobic and utterly
focused on preserving national unity. At the same time,
senior generals are embarrassed by their international pariah
status and crave respect. Some are concerned with Burma?s
ever-growing dependence on China and its geostrategic
location amidst historical foes. Others, having seen a
glimpse of the international community?s benevolence
following Nargis, no doubt wish for a lifting of sanctions
and economic assistance. No matter the motivations, a
dialogue with Burma?s senior military leaders will be slow,
frustrating, and, within the U.S., politically charged.
While dialogue is unlikely to yield major, near-term
political outcomes such as changes to the constitution, it
might sow seeds for future change by illustrating to the next
line of leaders what an improved relationship with the U.S.
could look like. Above all, a dialogue could lead to
tangible benefits for Burma?s long-suffering people, a
worthwhile goal in itself." End summary.
Source/publisher:
US Embassy, Rangoon, via Wikileaks
Date of publication:
2009-04-02
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"...Embassy Rangoon pol/econ chief departs Post this week after ending a two-year tour that saw the largest political uprising in Burma in twenty years, the arrest and imprisonment of the pro-democracy opposition?s most talented leaders, and the worst natural disaster in Burma?s recorded history. We asked her to share her candid observations on the current political situation, and her recommendations on how best to advance our democratic goals..."
Source/publisher:
US Embassy, Rangoon, via Wikileaks
Date of publication:
2008-07-14
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Articles on the NLD
Language:
English
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Description:
Summary: "If the United States wants to make a difference on
Burma, it should engage directly with General Than Shwe,
Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told EAP DAS Eric John
on March 5. In a separate meeting, MFA Director General for
Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue stressed that State Councilor Tang
"really worked on" the Burmese during his recent visit to
Burma, delivering the message that Burma needs to respond to
the concerns of the international community. DAS John
underlined that the United States is worried that Burma is
headed at high speed in the wrong direction. If it adopts a
constitution excluding certain parties from the political
process, the United States and China could be locked into a
cycle of confrontation over Burma at the United Nations. DAS
John and AFM Cui also discussed the United States? and
China?s overlapping interests in Southeast Asia. With DG Hu,
DAS John emphasized the importance of Indonesia and discussed
instability in East Timor, positive progress in the
Philippines and the situation in post-coup Thailand. EAP DAS
Thomas Christensen joined DAS John at the meetings." End
Summary.
Source/publisher:
US Embassy, Beijing, via Wikileaks
Date of publication:
2007-03-05
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
Abstract: No living foreigner has shaped contemporary U.S. attitudes toward
a single country more than Aung San Suu Kyi. As the seemingly
vulnerable international avatar of democracy, she has effectively determined
the parameters of possible U.S. policy choices. Although her Burma/Myanmar
specific goals and those of the U.S. overlap, they are not contiguous.
That country is a ?boutique? issue in U.S. politics – important but not of the
highest priority. The U.S. will face difficult policy decisions toward Burma/
Myanmar following the formation of the new Burmese administration after
the elections of November 7, 2010.
Manuscript received 9 July 2010; accepted 5 August 2010
Keywords: Burma/Myanmar, United States, policy, house, senate
Steinberg, David
Source/publisher:
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 29, 3, 35-59
Date of publication:
2010-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
English
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Description:
"The Obama administration?s initiative to review U.S. policy in six countries,
of which Burma/Myanmar1 was one, was taken as a welcome sign
among most observers of the Burma/Myanmar scene with the exception of
those deeply committed to endorsing even more stringent measures against
Naypyidaw.2 They were unrealistically fearful that the Obama administration
would completely reverse the policies of the previous Republican
and Democratic regimes. This was politically impossible in the United
States at that time.
Welcome and obvious, but modest, signals, however, had been sent by
both the Americans and the Burmese that increased contacts were desirable.
The Burmese foreign minister had an unprecedented meeting with
a mid-level State Department official in March 2009, and the United
States indicated it would consider signing (and later did) the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Treaty of Amity and Cooperation,
which it had not done in large part because of Myanmar?s ASEAN membership,
which the U.S. adamantly opposed, in 1997. The beginnings of
such contacts moved the possibility of progress forward. The constraints
of the domestic U.S. political scene resulted in a modified policy from
isolation and regime change under both the Clinton and the Bush administrations
to ?pragmatic engagement,? essentially meaning the continuation
of the sanctions regimen together with dialogue at a relatively high diplomatic level aimed at the amelioration of human rights violations and
governance excesses associated with the junta. In a quiet shift, ?regime
change? and the honoring of the May 1990 elections swept by the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) were discarded...Now, as this essay is written in June 2010, a sense of frustration over the
lack of progress seems evident in both the American and Burmese camps.
In Washington, there is increasing talk of even further sanctions beyond
those instituted in 1988 (cutting off military sales and support, as well as the
U.S. economic assistance and anti-narcotics programs), 1997 (prohibiting
new investment), 2003 (denying imports and the U.S. banking system to
the Burmese state), and 2008 (focusing on jade and ruby import restrictions)..."
David I. Steinberg
Source/publisher:
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.
Date of publication:
2010-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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pdf
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172.92 KB
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BANGKOK - After the only outcomes of a visit to Myanmar by a high-level United States diplomat were "profound" disappointment over its election preparations and a stronger line over its nuclear links with North Korea, President Barack Obama on Friday formally extended sanctions against the country.
Washington?s extension of the sanctions followed the visit of US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Kurt Campbell to Naypyidaw, the capital, on May 9 for a two-day visit. Campbell met top officials such as Foreign Minister Nyan Win, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, Science and Technology Minister U Thaung - the point man for US-Myanmar engagement - and Labor Minister U Aung Kyi
Brian McCartan
Source/publisher:
Asia Times Online
Date of publication:
2010-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Sanctions and/or engagement
Language:
English
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Description:
The Obama administration should promptly conclude its Burma policy review and adopt initiatives to make its policies on diplomacy, sanctions and humanitarian aid more effective, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton released today.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2009-09-09
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English, Japanese
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2009-09-09
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
The Barack Obama administration has broken ranks with its recent predecessors in announcing its intention to engage Myanmar?s ruling generals while also maintaining economic and financial sanctions against the military regime. The outgoing George W Bush administration imposed new financial sanctions against individual regime members and their associates, and often referred to Myanmar as an "outpost of tyranny".
Brian McCartan
Source/publisher:
Asia Times Online
Date of publication:
2009-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
* The SLORC military junta is a world-class human rights abuser condemned by the UN every year since 1989.
* Foreign investors continue to play a critical role in providing financial backing for SLORC.
* SLORC continues to refuse to recognize the results of the 1990 elections, overwhelmingly won by Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Philip S. Robertson Jr.
Source/publisher:
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Date of publication:
1997-08-01
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Abstract:
"Myanmar has been one of a number of countries that the new American Executive branch selected for policy reconsideration. The Obama administration?s review of relations with Myanmar, characterized as a ?boutique issue? during the presidential campaign, has received considerable attention in 2009, and in part was prompted by quiet signals sent by both sides that improved relations were desirable. Begun as an intense policy review by various agencies, it has been supplemented by the first visits in 15 years to the country by senior US officials. The policy conclusion, that sanctions must remain in place but will be supplemented by dialogue, is a politically realistic compromise given the strong congressional and public antipathy to the military regime and the admiration for Aung San Suu Kyi, whose purported views have shaped US policies. US claims of the importance of Myanmar as a security and foreign policy concern have also been a product of internal US considerations as well as regional realities. US—Burmese relations since independence have been strongly influenced by the Cold War and China, whose strategic interests in Myanmar have been ignored in the public dialogue on policy until recently, with US policy focused on political and human rights concerns.
Attention is now concentrated on parliamentary and local elections to be held in 2010, after which the new constitution will come into effect and provide the military with a taut reign on critical national policies while allowing opposition voices. Future relations will be strongly influenced by the transparency and freedom both of the campaigning and vote counting, and the role—if any—of the opposition National League for Democracy. Strong scepticism exists in the US on prospects unless the Burmese institute extensive reforms. The Burmese military, presently controlling all avenues of social mobility, will have a major role in society for decades. The article initially evaluates US policies towards Myanmar prior to 1988, when a military coup marked a negative shift in US—Myanmar relations, from cooperation to a US sanctions regime. It looks at the influence China?s involvement in Myanmar and the role Aung San Suu Kyi have had on the formulation of US policy towards the country and assesses the prospects for the US-Myanmar relationship under the Obama administration."
David I. Steinberg
Source/publisher:
International Affairs Volume 86, Issue 1
Date of publication:
2010-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
US-ASEAN Summit is Moment to Align Divergent Policies Ahead of Elections
(New York) - US and Southeast Asian leaders meeting in New York this week should press the Burmese government to end an escalating campaign of repression, release political prisoners, and begin a dialogue with opposition groups ahead of Burma?s coming flawed elections, Human Rights Watch said today. September marks the third anniversary of the brutal 2007 crackdown on peaceful protests led by monks and known as the "Saffron Revolution."
US President Barack Obama and leaders of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a summit in New York on September 24, 2010, the eve of the annual United Nations General Assembly.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2010-09-23
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"The recent report by the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), Badgley, J.H. (2004) ?Reconciling Burma/Myanmar: Essays on U.S. Relations with Burma?[3 March 2004], presented a shamelessly one-sided set of arguments for changing United States policy towards Myanmar. This paper tries to redress the balance, and to present both sides of the argument concerning what is, after all, a complex and heated issue. Two ?core arguments? of the NBR report are identified and discussed, and in contrast the author develops two ?core counter-arguments? for maintaining, with modifications, the existing U.S. policies with respect to Myanmar..."
Adam McCarty
Source/publisher:
Mekong Economics Ltd.
Date of publication:
2004-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-08-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 7-Step Roadmap, Sanctions, USA-Burma relations, Formal Sanctions
Language:
English
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83.36 KB
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This legislation was signed into law by the US President on 28 July 2003.
Source/publisher:
U S Government via Trillium Asset Management
Date of publication:
2003-07-28
Date of entry/update:
2010-08-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Sanctions, Formal Sanctions
Language:
English
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Description:
Executive Summary:
"In September 2009, the United States announced a new course in its policy toward
Burma following a seven-month review undertaken by the Barack Obama administration.1
Recognizing that decades of pursuing policies of isolation and sanctions had done little to
influence change among Burma's military leaders, the United States introduced a policy
of "pragmatic engagement." Under this new policy, the United States will maintain its
sanctions on Burma while simultaneously undertaking direct dialogue with senior leaders
of the Burmese regime. Dialogue, according to the United States, will "supplement, rather
than replace," decades of U.S. sanctions policy. These talks have already begun, and the
United States has indicated that any improvement in relations between the two countries is
possible only when Burma's military regime enacts meaningful and concrete reforms in the
country, particularly in the areas of democracy and human rights.2
In adjusting its policy toward Burma, the United States must face reality with clear
vision. Among other things, this vision must recognize that the United States' ability to
solve Burma's problems and to influence the course of the country's governance is extremely
limited, as nearly 20 years experience with a harsh punitive policy of isolation and sanctions
have demonstrated. U.S. influence in Burma is unlikely to outweigh that of increasingly
powerful Asian neighbors. Therefore, the United States' priority must be to clarify its
fundamental objectives in Burma and the basic means at its disposal for promoting those
objectives. Moreover, Burma is not likely to rank very high on the list of U.S. foreign policy
priorities in the foreseeable future, so resources to address U.S. goals in Burma will be
limited, compared to priority countries and regions.
The Task Force believes that the United States must approach policy adjustments
with careful consideration of how the instruments that are available -- including both the
engagement and sanctions sides of the equation -- can be employed most effectively to
encourage reform and democratic governance. Through its programs and support for the
Burmese people, the United States can demonstrate that it is steady but flexible and quick
to react to any potential overtures from the Burmese government. Specifically, during this
period of transition, the United States should encourage the process of political development
toward democratic norms; press the military regime to improve governance; and assist the
country's non-Burman nationalities in pursuing an equitable voice in national governance.
The basic means available to the United States to pursue these goals will be effective
channels of communication; focused assistance programs; reform-oriented economic
activity; coordination with Burma's neighbors and the broader international community; and tightening of targeted financial sanctions, if and when necessary.
Going forward, it will be useful to consider distinctions based on change in
Burma for framing U.S. policy recommendations. The Task Force makes the following
recommendations, which are organized into three distinct stages: (1) measures to be
pursued now; (2) additional measures to be implemented if and when the United States
begins to see indications of change on the part of the Burmese leadership; and (3) actions
to be undertaken after real progress has been demonstrated on a sustained basis..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Society
Date of publication:
2010-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-03-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English, Burmese
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Description:
Table of Contents:
Foreword...
Introduction...
Current Dimensions, Future Directions: Australian Policy toward Burma...
Assessing the Current Situation in Myanmar: A Perspective from China...
From Isolation to Engagement: Reviewing India's Policy toward Myanmar...
The Quest for the "Middle Way": Indonesian Perspectives on Current
Developments in Myanmar...
Japan's Policy toward Myanmar: A Special Responsibility...
Pragmatic Diplomacy: Reviewing International and Malaysian
Policy toward Myanmar...
Developing an International Policy toward Burma/Myanmar:
Philippine Perspectives...
From Proxy to Principle: A Review of Singapore's Myanmar Policy...
Thailand's Burma/Myanmar Dilemma: Domestic Determinants and
Regional/International Constraints...
Appendix 1: Executive Summary: Report of the Asia Society Task Force on
US Policy toward Burma/Myanmar
Source/publisher:
Asia Society
Date of publication:
2010-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-03-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Summary:
"Transnational organized crime groups in Burma (Myanmar) operate a multibillion
dollar criminal industry that stretches across Southeast Asia. Trafficked
drugs, humans, wildlife, gems, timber, and other contraband flow through Burma,
supporting the illicit demands of the region and beyond. Widespread collusion
between traffickers and Burma?s ruling military junta, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), allows organized crime groups to function with
impunity. Transnational crime in Burma bears upon U.S. interests as it threatens
regional security in Southeast Asia and bolsters a regime that fosters a culture of
corruption and disrespect for the rule of law and human rights.
Congress has been active in U.S. policy toward Burma for a variety of reasons,
including combating Burma?s transnational crime situation. At times, it has imposed
sanctions on Burmese imports, suspended foreign assistance and loans, and ensured
that U.S. funds remain out of the regime?s reach. Most recently, the 110th Congress
passed P.L. 110-286, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008 (signed by
the President on July 29, 2008), which imposes further sanctions on SPDC officials
and prohibits the indirect importation of Burmese gems, among other actions. On the
same day, the President directed the U.S. Department of Treasury to impose financial
sanctions against 10 Burmese companies, including companies involved in the gemmining
industry, pursuant to Executive Order 13464 of April 30, 2008.
This report analyzes the primary actors driving transnational crime in Burma,
the forms of transnational crime occurring, and current U.S. policy in combating
these crimes. This report will be updated as events warrant. For further analysis of
U.S. policy to Burma, see CRS Report RL33479, Burma-U.S. Relations, by Larry A.
Niksch."
Liana Sun Wyler
Source/publisher:
[US] Congressional Research Service
Date of publication:
2008-08-21
Date of entry/update:
2010-03-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Summary:
"By the end of September 2007, the Burmese military regime had suppressed
with force anti-regime protests that began in late August, escalated in mid-
September, and were led by Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists. This drew
new protests from the United States over the regime?s abusive human rights record.
According to human rights reports by the U.S. State Department and private
organizations, Burma?s poor record worsened in 2004, 2005, and 2006. These
reports have laid out a familiar pattern of government and military abuses of
civilians. As in the past, U.S. diplomatic initiatives in September 2007 did not
prevent the regime?s crackdown. China blocked a U.S.-European Union proposal to
have the United Nations Security Council consider imposing sanctions on Burma.
However, Burmese military leader Than Shwe proposed to a United Nations envoy
that he would meet with opposition leader Aung Sann Suu Kyi if she would cease
encouraging confrontation with the government and foreign economic sanctions.
The SPDC appears unaffected by sanctions imposed by the United States and
other Western nations. Western sanctions are uneven with U.S. sanctions being the
heaviest. Burma has been able to expand exports of a variety of commodities,
including growing earnings from natural gas production. China and India have
signed deals with the SPDC for substantial purchases of natural gas. Burma also
reportedly earns between $1 billion and $2 billion annually from exports of illegal
drugs, heroin and methamphetamines. Most of these earnings go to drug traffickers
connected to the Wa and Shan ethnic groups; but Burmese military officials have
means to gain a substantial share of these earnings. Burma?s fellow members in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have grown more critical of the
SPDC, but they continue to oppose sanctions. Chinese diplomatic support of the
SPDC and military and economic aid is very important: $2 billion in military aid
since the early 1990s, $200 million annually in economic aid, substantial foreign
investment including new investment in natural gas, and a huge influx of Chinese
migrants into Burma, mainly traders. China?s role is a prime justification for India?s
?constructive engagement” policy toward Burma. Burma has reestablished
diplomatic relations with North Korea amidst reports of growing military cooperation
between them.
Since 1988, the United States has imposed sanctions against Burma, including
congressional passage in 2003 of the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act (P.L. 108-
61) banning imports from Burma (renewed by Congress in 2006). The Bush
Administration proposed that the U.N. Security Council consider the Burma situation
and introduced a resolution in the Council. China and Russia vetoed the resolution
in January 2007 and blocked a U.S. attempt to secure Security Council consideration
of sanctions in September 2007. The Administration also faces limits on its
flexibility in using sanctions in U.S. diplomacy. Contacts with the SPDC are
extremely limited. The Administration has indicated that it would use sanctions to
initiate a ?road map” process with the SPDC, but Congress appears to be against a
?road map” approach and stated in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act that
the full range of U.S. sanctions should remain until the SPDC ends human rights
abuses and makes fundamental political concessions to Aung Sann Suu Kyi."
Larry A. Niksch
Source/publisher:
[US] Congressional Research Service
Date of publication:
2007-10-04
Date of entry/update:
2010-03-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
more
Description:
Summary:
"On October 19, 2007, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13449. This followed a
September 25, 2007 statement by President Bush that sanctions against Burma, which have been
in place since 1997, would be tightened to specifically target leading Burmese officials and
impose additional financial and travel sanctions. This report provides background information on
existing economic sanctions against Burma and possible options to expand sanctions. It will be
updated as events warrant."
Larry A. Niksch, Martin A. Weiss
Source/publisher:
[US] Congressional Research Service
Date of publication:
2009-08-03
Date of entry/update:
2010-03-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
The Obama administration?s more conciliatory approach to Burma will be short-lived unless the country?s rulers act soon to reciprocate
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 9
Date of publication:
2009-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Burma?s generals have a history of juggling relations with Washington and Beijing...
"If ever the Burmese regime made it clear it preferred ?Made in America? to ?Made in China,? it would be no surprise to see relations between China and Burma suffer a severe hiccup.
China is now keenly observing Washington?s new policy toward the Burmese regime and Burma?s opposition movement. At the same time, Beijing is observing the unpredictable Naypyidaw regime?s paukphaw (kinship) commitment to China.
Burma?s former dictator, Ne Win, (left) met then US President Lyndon Johnson in 1966.
Burmese military officers used Western weapons to counter Chinese-backed insurgents in the past. They have long memories of Chinese chauvinism and Beijing?s efforts to export communism to Burma and install a government sympathetic to Mao Zedong?s communist ideology.
Those days are long gone. China became Burma?s staunchest ally after the regime brutally crushed the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. For the past 21 years, China has adopted its paukphaw policy toward Burma and played an influential role there..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 8
Date of publication:
2009-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
Burma?s rulers would like to have friendly relations with Washington, but that won?t happen unless they make significant changes...It?s no secret that the regime in Burma wants to repair its frosty relationship with America. It would especially like to see the lifting of US sanctions, which have an impact not only on the general population, but are also hampering the junta leaders? ambition to build a modern armed forces...
"If Burma"good old days"1,000-mile destination."..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 6
Date of publication:
2009-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
The new US administration has sent a strong signal that it wants to take a more active role in dealing with Burma...
"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?s message to Burma was loud and clear, but it is still uncertain what direction exactly the US will take in trying to engage the troubled country..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 5
Date of publication:
2009-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Can efforts to relax US sanctions against Burma stay afloat in the wake of John William Yettaw?s fateful swim across Inya Lake?...
NOBODY knows for sure what inspired John William Yettaw to don a pair of homemade flippers and swim across Inya Lake to the home of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. But if his intention was to frustrate efforts to open a new chapter in US relations with Burma?s ruling regime, all we can say is: Mission Accomplished.
Suu Kyi enters the Insein Prison building where the trial is being held.
Of course, Yettaw should not be the one held accountable for the hardening of attitudes toward the Burmese junta in the wake of this incident. For that, Burma?s generals have only themselves to thank..."
Aung Zaw, Neil Lawrence
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 3
Date of publication:
2009-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
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Description:
"...Until now, the world has been divided into two camps when it comes to how to deal with Burma - those who support sanctions and those who urge constructive engagement. Western countries led by the US have applied sanctions, while Burma?s neighbors, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China and India, have favored engagement.
But things seem to be changing.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted at a shift in Western thinking when she said during a recent Asia tour: "Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn?t influenced the Burmese junta."
But she also made clear that the alternative policy followed by Burma?s neighbors is also ineffective, adding: "Reaching out and trying to engage them [the Burmese generals] hasn?t influenced them, either."
Clinton announced that the new US administration is reviewing its Burma policy - "because we want to see the best ideas about how to influence the Burmese regime."It?s obvious, however, that US policy makers have no clear idea which idea is best.
Nevertheless, a departure from the policy that first applied sanctions against Burma in 1997 can be expected..."
Kyaw Zwa Moe
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 2
Date of publication:
2009-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-04-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
In a wide-ranging interview with The Irrawaddy, the United States? ambassador to Thailand, Eric G John, spoke about what Asia - and the countries of Asean in particular - can expect from the foreign policy program of Barack Obama?s presidency.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 2
Date of publication:
2009-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-04-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"When George W Bush and his wife Laura visited Thailand earlier this month, they took pains to draw attention to their continuing commitment to democracy in Burma. Publicly, their statements of support and gestures of solidarity were welcomed by Burma?s opposition movement. Privately, however, most Burmese now accept that the US is not able to remove the generals in Naypyidaw. Indeed, some activists have come to share the view that the US?s uncompromising approach to Burma since the ill-fated 1988 pro-democracy uprising may in fact have been counter-productive..."
Andrew Selth
Source/publisher:
"The Interpreter" - weblog of the Lowy Institute for International Policy
Date of publication:
2008-08-26
Date of entry/update:
2009-03-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Washington remains the Burmese people?s best hope for reliable support in their struggle for democracy...
AS Barack Obama assumes the heavy duties of the US presidency, the oppressed Burmese people who have seen little political progress in their crisis-racked country are looking to him to see how his Burma policy differs from his predecessor?s.
Although thousands of miles separate Burma and the US, the Burmese people still look to Washington—rather than the capitals of China, India, Russia or any of the EU or
Asean member countries—to provide reliable political support for democratic change..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 1
Date of publication:
2009-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-02-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Die USA präsentieren sich in der Burma-Katastrophe als unbürokratischer Krisenhelfer. Doch tatsächlich versucht die Regierung Bush, das Drama politisch auszuschlachten. Diese Strategie macht die Militärjunta so extrem misstrauisch - Hilfsorganisationen sind empört; USA-Burma Beziehungen; Amerikanische Hilfsprogramme; USA-Burma relations; US Aid Programme;
Marc Pitzke
Source/publisher:
Spiegel Online
Date of publication:
2008-05-09
Date of entry/update:
2008-05-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
German, Deutsch
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Description:
Die Zuspitzung der von buddhistischen Mönchen angeführten Proteste gegen das Militärregime in Birma bzw. Myanmar sowie das harte Vorgehen der Militärjunta haben Birma in den Blickpunkt der Weltöffentlichkeit gerückt.
Seit Jahren wird von seiten vor allem der US-Regierung, aber auch Großbritanniens und teils auch der EU Propaganda gegen das Militärregime dort gemacht, wurden Drohungen ausgesprochen und Sanktionen verhängt. Und sie drängen auch jetzt zu verschärften Maßnahmen gegenüber Birma und setzen zunehmend China, Indien und die ASEAN-Staaten unter Druck, gegen die Militärjunta vorzugehen und noch mehr, sie drängen dazu, zu einem Machtwechsel in Birma beizutragen.USA-Burma Beziehungen, Aufstände 2007; USA-Burma relations; uprisings 2007
Uwe Mueller
Source/publisher:
Neue Einheit
Date of publication:
2007-10-01
Date of entry/update:
2008-05-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma-India relations, USA-Burma relations, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath
Language:
German, Deutsch
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Description:
"US Congressman Tom Lantos of California, one of the best friends Burma ever had, died in February... Lantos worked tirelessly to strengthen US support for democracy and human rights in Burma. Most notably, he wrote the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, which imposed sanctions on Burma?s military regime, and the Block Burmese JADE (Junta?s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2007, which expanded targeted sanctions on the regime..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 16, No. 3
Date of publication:
2008-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-04-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
Die Militär-Junta von Myanmar (Burma) strebt vermutlich nach der Atombombe. Während die ganze Welt auf den Iran schaut, gehen in Myanmar Veränderungen vor, die das Schlimmste befürchten lassen: Neu entdeckte Erdgasreserven machen das Land zu einem der wichtigsten Gaslieferanten in Asien. China kooperiert militärisch und wirtschaftlich mit Myanmar, Russland will zivile Nukleartechnik liefern und über Kontakte zu Nordkorea wird gemunkelt. US-Sanktionen, sino-burmesisches Verhältnis, sowjetisch-burmesisches Verhältnis; Außenpolitik;
New gas ressources; foreign policy; sino-burmese relations; soviet-burmese relations
Ian Bremmer
Source/publisher:
Slate/Global Agenda
Date of publication:
2006-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2007-08-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Oil and gas - general, Government of Myanmar (oil and gas), USA-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Nuclear
Language:
German, Deutsch
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Description:
Die USA haben ein Abkommen zwischen Russland und Burma (Myanmar) über den Bau einer Nuklearanlage verurteilt.Die russische Atomenergiebehörde Rosatom hatte am Dienstag mitgeteilt, sich in dem von einer Militärjunta regierten Burma am Bau einer Nuklearanlage mit einem Zehn-Megawatt-Leichtwasserreaktor zu beteiligen. Eine entsprechende Vereinbarung mit dem Land sehe die Zusammenarbeit bei der Entwicklung und der Ausstattung des Forschungszentrums vor.
Source/publisher:
Der Standard; APA
Date of publication:
2007-05-25
Date of entry/update:
2007-08-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
German, Deutsch
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Description:
Der US-Senat hat die im Jahr 2003 gegen Burma (Myanmar) verschärften Sanktionen einstimmig verlängert. Die Strafmaßnahmen gegen die burmesische Militärdiktatur müssten aufrecht bleiben, bis die herrschende Junta politische Reformen zulasse. Zu den Sanktionen gehören ein Einfuhrverbot für alle Waren aus Burma und ein Einreiseverbot für Personen mit Verbindungen zur Junta.
Source/publisher:
APA/AFP; der Standard
Date of publication:
2007-07-25
Date of entry/update:
2007-08-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
German, Deutsch
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Description:
As US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Eric John is Washington?s point man on Southeast Asia, which includes Burma. On April 28, The Irrawaddy interviewed John at its office in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to catch up on the latest US policies on Burma, as the Burmese regime?s leading critic. The wide-ranging interview covered all aspects of these policies to bring about reform in Burma, US thoughts on Burma?s relations with its neighbors, and the situation regarding Burma and the UN Security Council.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 14, No. 5
Date of publication:
2006-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2006-12-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
His ?Look West? Policies Are Now in Tatters... "...Today, Burma?s relations with the West, particularly the US, are rocky, and they?re unlikely to get better as long as the two sides pull in opposite directions. Since the 1988 democracy uprising, the US has downgraded its diplomatic relations with Burma, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has famously labeled Burma as an ?outpost of tyranny,? along with North Korea, Cuba and Iran.
In Rangoon, the military leaders maintain their critical stance vis-?-vis the West, bitterness and hatred simmering together in editorials published by the junta?s mouthpiece journals, while clearly harboring hopes for a better relationship with the West.
While the generals pursue closer ties with neighbors such as Russia, India and China, they still don?t send their children to study in Moscow, Beijing or North Korea. Before the visa bans took hold, many children of the Rangoon elite were sent to study in Britain, Australia and the US..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 10
Date of publication:
2005-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2006-04-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Although some sociologists have noted that Americans sometimes admire sincerity over competence or accuracy, the sincerity of both is not in question; rather it is whether each or a combined approach will accomplish their policy objective.
US policy has long been devoted to ?regime change? in Burma, albeit in a peaceful manner. That is, the policy has been to see the military return to barracks and have the opposition, which won the 1990 elections, assume power. Will this approach lead to change in Burma in the manner the US hopes? It?s highly unlikely..."
David I. Steinberg
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 3
Date of publication:
2005-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2005-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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Description:
"Soe Thinn is the director of the Radio Free Asia Burmese Service in Washington, DC. He also worked with the Burmese Service of the Voice of America from 1992 until 1996 and with the Burmese Foreign Service from 1969 until October 1988. He spoke with The Irrawaddy about the challenges of bringing information to the Burmese public and RFA?s future plans..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 12, No. 8
Date of publication:
2004-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2004-11-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations
Language:
English
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pdf
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18.5 KB
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Committee on International Relations
U.S. House of Representatives...
Committee on International Relations
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Human Rights...
Statement of Chairman Elton Gallegly...
Developments in Burma...
March 25, 2004.
Elton Gallegly
Source/publisher:
Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives
Date of publication:
2004-03-25
Date of entry/update:
2004-04-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Formal Sanctions, Sanctions
Language:
English
more
Description:
Committee on International Relations,
U.S. House of Representatives...
Statement by Representative James A. Leach,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific...
Joint Subcommittee Hearing on Developments in Burma...
March 25, 2004
James A. Leach
Source/publisher:
Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives
Date of publication:
2004-03-25
Date of entry/update:
2004-04-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Formal Sanctions, Sanctions
Language:
English
more