Reform in Myanmar

President Barack Obama is visiting Myanmar this week to attend the 2014 East Asia Summit.The president’s visit comes two years after his November 2012 trip, the first of a sitting U.S. president, and soon after the military government in Myanmar adopted a surprising and bold—but still incomplete—reform agenda.

Since Myanmar first took steps toward reform in 2011, the Obama administration has carefully recalibrated its policy toward the once beleaguered nation, resulting in a sea change in bilateral relations. Within the administration’s broader framework of rebalancing to Asia, Myanmar has become a centerpiece of enhanced U.S. engagement, in contrast to its previous role as a barrier to expanded U.S. ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

For more on this idea, please see:

• Supporting Continued Reform in Myanmar by Brian Harding, Aarthi Gunasekaran, Charles A. Jordan