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Reese Alan Neader: Burma is fully dependent on Chinese aid without any requirement to improve human rights practices. Since Washington ignored tyrannical regimes, China has been allowed to move in unchecked. Thus, by re-engaging Burma, the Obama administration is putting pressure on China to conform to international norms.
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Daphne Wolf: Small and local aid agencies are best equipped to help the victims of cyclone Nargis because they are already operating on the ground. Donations to these agencies are more effective since big aid organizations are still struggling to access the affected areas.
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Aung Sun Suu Kyi’s plight is well known, but there are more than 2000 other activists in Burmese prisons. ++ Many are subject to torture, denied medical treatment, and forced into manual labor. ++ Ethnic minorities face cultural genocide. ++ The UN has gone so far as to accuse the military junta of violating international law. ++ It is time for that government to be held accountable. ++ Real
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The Burmese people need external help. ++ “Only an even-handed interlocutor can lift them out of the calcified intransigence that has damaged their lives and threatened the stability of Southeast Asia.” ++ Sanctions have proofed as the wrong measure as the ruling elite has become more entrenched and at the same time the Burmese people lost access to the outside world. ++ In order to make Myanmar
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Myanmar’s new friendly attitude towards the US hopefully means that the junta is willing to change its authoritarian policy. ++ To be sure, the Obama administration should “test that proposition”, but for now it remains “far too early to lift sanctions.” ++ Any change in the US policy towards Burma should begin with the junta’s commitment to stop persecuting its own people. ++ “The United States
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The recent sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi was politically motivated to remove the NLD party from elections later this year and to urge the US to engage. ++ “Western isolation of Burma is almost totally ineffective because China, India and members of the ASEAN give Burma everything it needs.” ++ Washington’s policy on Burma is conversely serving to isolate the US from the rest of
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Western sanctions will not help the people of Burma, but rather harm their cause. ++ Sanctions and isolation “are the surest way to keep Burma like Cuba – poor, oppressive and stuck in the past.” ++ Western governments should not condemn the Burmese regime any longer and instead encourage western companies to invest there. ++ Western engagement is important as only “trade, economic growth
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“President Obama took office loudly promising to be the anti-George W. Bush of foreign policy,” but what he has received instead is “an education in the reality of global rogues, and how he responds has become a major test of his Presidency.” ++ The US is currently tracking a North Korean ship with suspected weapons towards Burma - will Mr Obama act to inspect the ship even though Pyongyang has
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The US’ response to Burma’s suffering under a military junta has been strict economic sanctions. ++ The limited effectiveness of this policy led the US to consider an alternative which will deliver practical benefits to the Burmese people, but this is also met with skepticism. ++ Increased trade will be exploited to benefit the military regime and do little for the people. ++
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Japan adds itself to less than 20 developed countries open to refugees under resettlement programs. ++ Since 1981 Japan has accepted 451 refugees. ++ Over the next 3 years, 30 refugees per year will be accepted from Burma into camps in Thailand. ++ This number is too small; the Burmese should be allowed to establish their own community in Japan in order not to feel isolated. ++ Plans for teaching
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It’s been almost a year since Burmese people were violently crushed as they publicly demanded freedom and the international community has still not achieved anything. ++ As Than Shwe intensifies the crackdown, the world looks towards Ban Ki-moon for leadership in dealing with the dictator but UN mission in Burma has been fruitless. ++ Flowery speeches about democracy aren’t enough –
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“Many of the world’s necessary interventions in the decade before the invasion - in places like Haiti and the Balkans - would seem impossible in today’s climate.” ++ In the wake of the Burmese cyclone, the strength of totalitarian governments and the unwillingness of others to pressure them have all become troublingly apparent. ++ US involvement in Iraq has only accelerated this
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Responsibility and emergency to act in Burma cannot be doubted but UN legitimacy is lacking and R2P stands for “responsibility to protect,” not “right to invade.” ++ Any action requires “a careful, informed calculation of the likely consequences.” ++ Now the junta has acquiesced to limited aid “under an Asian umbrella,” the West should drop plans for air and sea bridges that could entail the
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Without a coordinated international response to the humanitarian crisis in Burma, the death toll could expand exponentially. ++ French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner controversially suggested that given the responsibility to protect principle, the UN Security Council should authorize “coercive intervention” for the delivery of aid supplies. ++ This concept deserves consideration
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Despite the determination of Burma’s military rulers to prevent foreign interference in fear of losing its grip on power, the international community has a moral obligation to deliver aid to cyclone-stricken civilians by all means necessary. ++ Countries such as Thailand, China and Indonesia, which enjoy closer relations with Burma, could act as proxies to deliver Western aid. ++ If this fails, a
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Burma’s despots are politicizing the crisis, blocking foreign relief operations, and preventing the needy from receiving food and aid. ++ 400,000 may have died and two million may now face the threats of malnutrition and disease. ++ Rather than apply sanctions or evict Burma from the UN, the international community should try to convince China, India and Thailand to remind the generals of
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The reluctance of Burma’s military rulers to help their own people in the aftermath of cyclone Nargis is criminal. ++ The international community should use a measured approach in encouraging Burma to accept aid and de-prioritize the scheduled constitutional referendum. ++ Greater involvement should be elicited from regional actors such as China and Thailand. ++ Pressuring too hard will only be
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