CHIANG MAI -- The hopeful news from Myanmar calls for a pause and reflection: What really triggered these happy developments? Which is the most appropriate course for the international community to follow on the strenuous road to a full blossoming of democracy in Myanmar?
Western countries are heralding the fruits of sanctions and the tough line that isolated and marginalized Myanmar internationally. Asian countries, especially members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, consider the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to be a result of their moderate policies of engagement, dialogue and inclusion.
I lean toward favoring the Asian view. If sanctions were such magical tools, they should have bore results much earlier instead of bringing about change after more than a decade of tyranny under the military regime. Moreover, the sanctions' supporters should have called for the removal of blatant contradictions, such as lambasting the Myanmar government on the one hand while tolerating business dealings by Western companies with the same regime on the other.