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.


