Burma's Saffron Revolution: How Should the World Respond?

In recent weeks, protests in Burma culminated in a military crackdown that left as many as 200 dead and as many as 10,000 arrested. While the United States and the European Union have called for tougher sanctions, Burma’s neighbors remain reluctant to pressure the military junta; China benefits from Burma’s strategic position and considerable natural resources.

Can the international community ensure that the 2007 repression does not end in many more years of autocratic rule? Will the United States sway China, India, Japan, and Thailand to use their influence in Burma? Is a positive outcome possible without China? Could further sanctions--such as limits on the junta’s economic activities in Singapore--affect the Burmese rulers where past sanctions have not?

Aung Din of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, Bo Hla Tint of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, and Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch will join AEI resident fellow Dan Blumenthal to discuss these and other questions. AEI’s Joshua Muravchik will moderate.

About the Author

 

Dan
Blumenthal
  • Dan Blumenthal is a current commissioner and former vice chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, where he directs efforts to monitor, investigate, and provide recommendations on the national security implications of the economic relationship between the two countries. Previously, he was senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia in the Secretary of Defense's Office of International Security Affairs and practiced law in New York prior to his government service. At AEI, in addition to his work on the national security implications of U.S.-Sino relations, he coordinates the Tocqueville on China project, which examines the underlying civic culture of post-Mao China. Mr. Blumenthal also contributes to AEI's Asian Outlook series and is a research associate with the National Asia Research Program.
  • Phone: 202-862-5861
    Email: dblumenthal@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Lara Crouch
    Phone: 202-862-7160
    Email: lara.crouch@aei.org
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