In 2015, following Myanmar's first free election in a quarter-century, Western governments, including that of the United States, staked their hopes for democracy on Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Once regarded as a nascent democracy, Myanmar has sharply backslid in recent years. Suu Kyi’s denial of what the United Nations deems a genocide of the country’s Rohingya population coupled with her fall from power in February’s military coup, shows the limits, and perhaps naivety, of Western-backed democracy promotion. 

 

This week, guest host and Eurasia Group Foundation research fellow Caroline Baxter speaks with journalist Francis Wade. They discuss America's attempts to curb the humanitarian and political crises in Myanmar, and the options (or lack thereof) confronting the Biden administration.

 

Francis Wade is a freelance journalist with extensive experience reporting on South and South-East Asia. He is also the author of Myanmar’s Enemy Within: Buddhist Violence and the Making of a Muslim ‘Other’. You can follow Francis on Twitter at @Francis_Wade.