Association of Southeast Asian Nation leaders recently selected Burma to chair the organization in 2014. But has Burma truly done enough to be awarded such an honor, considering its very recent past?
Even if ASEAN has prepared for the worst, the stakes are too high to give the regime what it wants considering the country’s horrendous human rights record and aversion to democracy.
But it’s not only ASEAN that is taking a risk by offering diplomatic incentives to the Burmese regime – the United States and, crucially, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), are taking a huge gamble in engaging with President Thein Sein.
The NLD decided to re-register and contest by-elections last Friday. Yet, although there’s no doubt that the party has the best of intentions, it’s not clear that the country is ready for this shift. After all, what exactly has the Burmese regime done? …
Original post:
Slow Down With Burma
