President Obama’s meeting with Burma’s President Thein Sein at the White House today is a stark reminder of how far the Administration has come on Burma policy. In initiating the annual process for renewal of the ban on Burmese imports last week, Representative Joseph Crowley (D–NY) reiterated his desire that …
Over the past month, violence between the Burmese government and the Kachin, a small Christian minority group, has escalated. Just this week, three people were killed and at least four were wounded amid destruction that has displaced nearly 100,000. The violence is the latest episode in the ongoing conflict since …
President Obama missed a key opportunity to advance robust religious liberty in prepared remarks delivered in Burma recently. This is especially disappointing given that Burma has a long track record of persecution against religious minorities; the plight of Muslims in its west is just the latest and most visible manifestation. …
For months now, many encouraging signals have been coming from Burma’s military-backed regime. The list of reforms over the last year is well-known: release of hundreds of political prisoners, relaxation of press censorship and return of exiled journalists, legal amendments to allow for labor unions and strikes, ceasefires with ethnic …
As we inch closer to the April 1 by-elections in Burma, during which Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) will contest some 46 parliamentary seats, Western observers need to step back, assess the conditions on the ground, and determine whether the recent reforms in Burma—coupled …
By all accounts, Burma today is vastly different than a year ago. Since the fraudulent November 2010 elections, President Thein Sein has enacted a series of reforms, eliciting praise from the international community. Yet numerous challenges still remain, and recent incidents have cast doubt on the government’s ability, and willpower, …
