The U.s. Sanctions Policy On Burma And Its Adjustment (1988-2010)

The proliferation of unilateral economic sanctions by multi-level governments against nations around the world has become a central trend in U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. However, as the theory and history indicate, the U.S. policy of imposing unilateral sanctions has proven to be a failure on all fronts, it didn't help U.S. reach the desired foreign policy goals. The Sanction against Myanmar is a typical case in this regard. In the post-crisis era, Obama Administration is re-evaluating and revising the US foreign policy and its global strategy including the Myanmar policy, and it's important for China to know the U.S policy and strategy on Myanmar in order to safeguards its own interests in Myanmar and the region.In this dissertation, I'd like to discuss the U.S. sanction policy toward Myanmar and its'adjustment. The research not only involves the US policy towards Myanmar and U.S.-Myanmar relation, but also relates to the IR theories (like theory of sanction, U.S. foreign policy model and processes). The framework of this dissertation is as follows: In Chapter One, the background of U.S. initiating isolation policy towards Myanmar in 1988 is introduced. From a historical perspective, the U.S. policy towards Myanmar is actually a residue of Cold War. In Chapter Two, the history of the U.S.-Myanmar relationship from 1988 to 2010 is explored in detail. In Chapter Three I analyzed the variables that influence the sanction policy of U.S. towards Myanmar and looked into the"policy black box"from the angles of internal, external perspectives of U.S. and Myanmar. In February 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the administration would begin a comprehensive review of U.S. Myanmar policy. And in September 2009, the administration announced the conclusion to the review. After that a series of engagement actions were followed in the late 2009. Therefore in Chapter Four I explored all these new adjustments of U.S. policies toward Myanmar. In Chapter five, I discussed the impacts of U.S. sanction policy against Myanmar and its adjustment on China. And several suggestions for China on how to respond also presented. And the final part is conclusions.