US Role In Myanmar’s Democratization

The relations between Myanmar and U.S.have been faced with twists and turns since Myanmar regained independence from Britain.Myanmar and the United States enjoyed one of the oldest relationships,which specifically started since 1782,during the reign of King Bodawpaya of Konbaung Dynasty.Then Myanmar was under the British colony for almost one hundred years and achieved its independence in 1948.The country adopted the Parliamentary Democracy system following the independence.During those years,the relations between Myanmar and U.S were quiet friendly and the then U.S Vice President Richard Nixon even visited Myanmar in 1953.However,some circumstances,especially internal conflicts in the post-independence era,caused instability in the country,and led to the coup d’etat on 2 March 1962.This had marked the beginning of totalitarian rule and the political dominance of the military in Myanmar,which had been lasted for four decades.The bilateral relations between Myanmar and U.S.have been strained since then.The United States continued a rigid position towards Myanmar since 1988 to 2008 for various reasons under the name of tragic and violation of human rights.In 2011,Myanmar launched democratic transition introducing a series of political,economic and administrative reforms.During the Obama administration,the U.S.initiated re-engagement policy toward Myanmar and the relations between two countries were normalized when the U.S.ease its sanctions on Myanmar.The relations between the United States and Myanmar further warmed with the landmark visits by both President Obama to Yangon in 2012 and President Thein Sein to Washington in 2013.Recently,during the Trump presidency,as he has view of strong nationalism and focusing on America First policy,there has been less interest to Myanmar comparing to Obama Administration.The study is mainly based on secondary resources which includes relevant literatures on the subject.This paper will focus on the nature and characteristics of Myanmar and U.S.relations since the time of Myanmar’s independence from British and the implications of U.S.policies as well as the role has been played by the U.S.in the democratic reforms processes of Myanmar.