U.S.-Myanmar relations

Two years on from the military coup, the U.S. government is saying one thing about the country's crisis and doing another.

The legislation authorizes the Biden administration to begin providing non-lethal assistance to the opposition National Unity Government and its allies.

Ambassador Thomas Vajda is set to leave Myanmar this month, after less than two years in the post.

The U.S. Senate is inching toward passage of the Burma Act, which would pave the way for sanctions on Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

But the Southeast Asian bloc is unlikely to take the punitive line favored by the U.S. and its Western partners.

A U.S.-led coalition that intensifies this pressure could change the course of Myanmar’s protracted human rights disaster. 

As protests intensify in Myanmar, the civil disobedience movement should look to Power as their best avenue to secure greater international support. 

Such a move would only serve to push Myanmar further away from the U.S. – and toward China.

Xi’s visit bolstered China-Myanmar ties, but the West can still compete.

In the best-case scenario, Myanmar would be rich like the East and democratic like the West. 

Myanmar's government has played its cards well in the U.S.-China competition for influence.