Myanmar: The Republic Of The Union Of Myanmar

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The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma (the rest of this paper will continue to refer to it as Myanmar unless using a direct quote), is a country nestled in Southeast Asia. It has had a relatively short independent life, formerly under British rule. Since its independence, Myanmar has spent much of its life under military rule. The leaders willingly cutting itself off from the Western world, it spent years at the receiving end of sanctions from the European Union and the United states for its various human rights violations. In 2007, the Saffron Revolution brought Myanmar into the spotlight. Thousands of monks took to the street to stand up against the tyrannical military government (McGeown, 2008). The harshness of the government and its actions against its people, lit up the world stage. In 2008, cyclone Nargis put the spotlight back on this country when over a seventy-five thousand people were killed ("Myanmar: Cyclone nargis," 2011). Aide coming into the country was met with resistance. When the military regime gave up control of the government almost seemingly overnight, President Thein Sein was democratically elected in 2010 and took office in 2011. This brought a change in Myanmar, becoming a more democratic peaceful nation and releasing many political prisoners including the famous Aung San Suu Kyi. Relations with western countries began and because of the perceived positive changes in the country, sanctions were lifted from the European Union and The United States. President Obama became the first president to visit the country ("Obama lauds aung," 2012) and President Thein Sein visited the United States. Despite all these positive changes, human rights violations still persist in the country on ... ... middle of paper ... ...in the rest of the world has grown rapidly as has the interest of the rest of the world in it. The foreign interactions of the country and the stability of the country hinge on the conflict that is occurring on its borders. If Myanmar wants to become a world actor, it needs to address these conflict and in a timely manner. It also needs to tread lightly because there are many humanitarian watch groups keeping a close eye, especially in the Rakhine region. President Thein Sein needs to address those the country has deemed stateless and needs to work with its neighbors on this issue. Foreign actors also need to tread lightly. One can speculate that Myanmar can shut its doors just as fast as they were opened up. The world will continue to keep an eye on Myanmar’s continuance of a democratic government and this will be especially prudent in the upcoming 2015 elections.

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