Myanmar last week took the baton from the Sultan of Brunei, assuming the rotating chair in 2014 of Asia's most important regional organization, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In December the country otherwise known as Burma will also host the Southeast Asia Games, a coming-out party for a nation emerging from a half-century of military repression.
These are stunning signs of Myanmar's rapid rehabilitation from international pariah status following the slaughter of monks during the Saffron Revolution in 2007. Nonetheless, Myanmar remains convulsed by communal violence and anti-Muslim pogroms, generating risks for ASEAN's unity and reputation.