The U.S. Myanmar Policy During The Obama Administration

After the end of World War ?,the political and economic status of the United States has greatly improved and it has become the most powerful country on the international stage.With the establishment of an international status,the United States has completely shaken off the shackles of the "isolationism" tradition and actively participated in international affairs.The outbreak of the Cold War in 1947 made the United States attach more importance to establishing friendly relations with third-world countries and avoiding its fall into the communist camp.Myanmar's important geopolitical status is destined to be a bridge linking China,Southeast Asia,and South Asia,thus becoming an important defensive line for the United States to curb the expansion of communism into the Indochina Peninsula and the Indian Ocean region.After the war,the United States actively helped Burma's independence,provided long-term economic and military assistance,and hoped to establish a stable and friendly bilateral relationship with Myanmar.In fact,the relationship between the United States and Myanmar in the early post-war period did indeed develop rapidly.However,under the multiple influence of the turbulent political situation in Myanmar,strict neutralism policies and human rights issues under the military government,the development of the United States-Myanmar relationship has continued to be negatively affected.During the Unu government period,Myanmar implemented the political system of parliamentary democracy and the relationship between the United States and Myanmar developed more smoothly.After the military government led by Ne Win went through a coup to implement an isolated foreign policy,it created difficulties for the implementation of the United States' Myanmar policy.Myanmar's strict neutralism policy has caused Myanmar's political elite to have doubts about US aid and fears that the United States will interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs through aid.Under the dictatorship of the military government,there have been frequent serious human rights issues in Myanmar.This is an unacceptable value for traditional American values.The pressure on the United States for Burmese aid in the country is increasing.In the late 1980s,when the international situation changed drastically and the Cold War was greatly eased,the US was no longer simply adopting a cold-war attitude toward international affairs and was more willing to export values and act as a guardian of freedom.In 1988,after the new military government led by General Su Ming took office,he took a more extreme dictatorship and brutally suppressed domestic opposition activities,which caused strong dissatisfaction in the United States and other Western countries.Since then,the United States has initiated a policy of sanctions and isolation against Burma for more than 20 years.The relationship between the two countries has dropped to a freezing point.The financial crisis in 2008 has caused a huge blow to the capitalist world headed by the United States.Western countries will find it difficult to find the impetus for sustained economic development in the short term,while the Asia Pacific region's economy is still developing rapidly and shows full vitality.Especially after decades of reform and opening up,China has become the second largest economy in the world after the United States,and it still maintains a trend of sustained development,which has caused the United States to worry.After the Obama administration took office,it shifted its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region and launched a "return to Asia Pacific" strategy.The United States is far from the Asia-Pacific region,if it wants to successfully implement its strategy,it must rely on its allies in the Asia-Pacific region as its strategic fulcrum.The United States has long used Myanmar's democracy and human rights issues to isolate and sanction Myanmar,but the effect is not obvious.On the contrary,the United States and Myanmar relations have continued to deteriorate.As an important ally of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region,ASEAN is more significant in the new period.The poor relations between the United States and Myanmar have always been the ties between the United States and ASEAN,hindering the further development of bilateral relations.Myanmar,as a neighboring country of China,has traditionally been closely associated with China and is very important to China in terms of geo-political,geo-economic,and geo-cultural aspects.Therefore,after the Obama administration took office,it actively adjusted the US policy toward Myanmar and hoped to achieve a breakthrough on the above three issues through the improvement of the relations between the United States and Myanmar.In fact,after two years of Obama's efforts,great results have been achieved.First of all,the Democratic League led by Aung San Suu Kyi came to power and marked the staged victory in the democratization of Myanmar;Second,the U.S.'s contacts with the Myanmar sanctions and the rapid development of the U.S.-Myanmar relations have effectively eased the long-standing "Burma conflict" between the U.S.and ASEAN,creating room for further cooperation between the two sides;Third,after improving its diplomatic environment,Myanmar has actively implemented the strategy of "balancing the great powers",weakening China's influence in Myanmar by reducing its dependence on China,and creating difficulties for China's Myanmar policy and its strategy involving Burma.However,the development of the U.S.-Myanmar relationship is not exactly what the United States wants.Although the United States provided vital support during the process of democratization in Myanmar,Burma did not fully fall to the United States.The newly elected political elite adopted a more pragmatic foreign policy based on national interests.The U.S.'s ties with the Karen and other civilian areas touched the sensitive areas in Myanmar and affected Myanmar's trust in the United States.The disagreement between the United States and the Democratic League on the Rohingya issue revealed the conflict between the "universal value"of the United States and the Burmese nationalist ideology.Because of this problem,the relationship between the United States and Myanmar has suffered setbacks,and the United States has therefore conducted the Democratic League government.Public criticism.In the long run,the development of the relationship between the United States and Myanmar still faces numerous challenges.