Do you know the story of the President's visit to Burma? I didn't, but when I found out he was going there, I looked into it. It's a really good story.
It is the story of the United States, once President Obama was elected, making a dramatic shift in policy on Burma that now shows promise of spreading democracy and civilian control of a state previously under military junta and internationally vilified for human rights abuses. The President's foreign policy initiatives in Burma have increased the stability of a region long rent by armed factions, secured the release of political prisoners, facilitated the rehabilitation of an opposition political party and the democratic election of its leaders and has laid the groundwork for further improvements that directly serve American national security interests, such as in the further isolation of North Korea. Take a victory lap, Mr. President.
If you follow me out into the tall grass we can talk about some of the details and click some links.
Here is how the BBC described conditions in Burma when President Obama took office.
Burma, also known as Myanmar, was long considered a pariah state, isolated from the rest of the world and with an appalling human rights record.
From 1962 to 2011, the country was ruled by a military junta that suppressed almost all dissent and wielded absolute power in the face of international condemnation and sanctions.
The generals who ran Burma stood accused of gross human rights abuses, including the forcible relocation of civilians and the widespread use of forced labour, including children.
Here is how the State Department describes developments since the President's team took control of foreign policy toward Burma.
After the military coup government's 1988 crackdown on Burma's democratic opposition and its failure to honor the results of the country's 1990 parliamentary election, bilateral relations between the United States and Burma became strained. The United States and other members of the international community began to impose a range of economic, financial, and travel sanctions against Burma and support resolutions at the United Nations to mobilize international attention on the deplorable human rights situation. In 1990, the United States downgraded its level of diplomatic representation from Ambassador to Charge d'Affaires.
In 2009, the United States launched a new policy principled engagement including direct, senior-level dialogue with Burmese authorities. Relations between the United States and Burma began to improve, following the formation in March 2011 of a more civilian government under President Thein Sein. The new Burmese Government has implemented a series of reform efforts including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, signing preliminary ceasefire agreements with several ethnic armed groups, and holding credible parliamentary by-elections in which pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party won a landslide victory.
Just think about it. Going all the way back to JFK, insofar as failed states go, the only difference between Burma and Afghanistan is the Russians never invaded Burma, thus, never entangling the USA there like they did in Afghanistan. But, like Afghanistan, Burma remained a horrific wasteland. Going all the way back to George Herbert Walker Bush, unbroken U.S. Policy toward Burma had been isolation, sanctions, restricted trade, restricted relations and avoidance of bilateralism.
Then, just one thing changed. America elected Barack Obama.
So, now, as the President flies to Asia for a trip that will include a 1st ever U.S. Presidential visit to Burma, here is how Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications put the situation to a press gaggle aboard Air Force One today:
MR. RHODES: Moving away from -- well, sure. I mean, stepping back, what we’ve seen over the course of the last year, year and a half is a fairly dramatic transition get underway in Burma. You had a -- Thein Sein elected as a civilian leader of the country. You had a release of a substantial number of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Her party was allowed to stand for election. You’ve seen steps taken to amend labor laws, for instance, to outlaw child labor and forced labor. You’ve seen relaxations on the restrictions that the media faced.
So all of these open the door, in our view, towards a renewed relationship between the United States and Burma. And we see great potential in that relationship both in terms of what the U.S. can do to advance a democratic transition in Burma, but also understanding that Burma is an important country located in an important region, and can become a partner to the United States in ways that will have broader benefits -- economic benefits and regional benefits as well.
That said, the transition to democracy is far from complete in Burma. And I think the President’s message when he goes is going to be one of welcoming the progress that has taken place, noting the truly historic developments that we’ve seen over the course of the last year, but also underscoring that more work needs to be done to ensure a full transition to civilian rule, to ensure a full transition to democracy, and to bring about national reconciliation.
In addition to the democratic reforms, we’ve been concerned about the continued ethnic conflicts in Burma. The government has undertaken a number of ceasefires with different ethnic groups. That opens the door, we believe, towards lasting solutions to very longstanding, violent conflicts within Burma.
But you also see beyond those specific ethnic insurgencies, outbreaks of ethnic violence like in Rakhine state, where the Rohingya have been targeted by local population. Now, the government has actually tried to stabilize that situation at times, but I think the President will be underscoring that national reconciliation is also going to be a part of Burma’s democratic transition.
And again, we see great potential, though, as Burma continues to move in this direction for a deeper relationship.
Q On North Korea, has the military made moves away?
MR. RHODES: So we’ve had a dialogue with the Burmese government about the need to reduce their relationship with North Korea. We’ve seen them take some positive steps in that direction. And what we’d like to see, again, is an end to the relationship that has existed between Burma and North Korea. So there, too, we see that as an issue where they have been moving in a positive direction. We’d like to reinforce that action and, again, see Burma break its ties -- military ties with the North Koreans.
I’d also say, we’ve begun our own military-to-military engagement with Burma again after a long period of time. Thus far, that engagement has focused on the professionalization of the Burmese military and also human rights training that we can provide. Over time, I think we can also see that type of bilateral engagement lead to regional engagement. So for instance, the U.S. does a lot of exercises with Thailand and other regional partners; you could begin to see Burma become a part of that effort.
North Korea has few friends in this World. When President Obama reverses U.S. Policy on Burma and woos the emerging democracy out of North Korea's influence, it sends a dual message to North Korea about the kinds of reforms that can lead to beneficial change in relations with the US, compared to the benefits of reforms on the Koreans' lost ally.
Once again, America distinguishes itself as a World leader in a constructive way. This, too, is a change in past policy that had led to international disdain and debasement of US interests under the other Bush.
Though hardly anyone is paying attention, the President's short trip to Asia demonstrates remarkable mastery of foreign policy that has led to tangible improvement of US standing, influence and advantage in foreign regions and potential markets like Burma. I am daily thankful for President Obama's leadership in this and so many other things.