Myanmar's Path to Reform: Sanctions, ASEAN, and the UN
This paper examines the major obstacles preventing political and human rights reform in Myanmar (Burma) following decades of military junta rule. It identifies three primary factors hampering progress: China and Russia's economic interests in Myanmar undermining UN Security Council action; ASEAN's longstanding policy of non-interference despite its potential leverage; and the widespread but inaccurate belief that Myanmar's ruling junta is indifferent to international sanctions. Drawing on reports from Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and news sources from 2006, the paper argues that sanctions and regional pressure from Myanmar's neighbors represent the most viable path to meaningful reform, and that persistence from the international community is essential.
- Introduction: Myanmar Under Military Rule: Background on junta rule and reform obstacles
- Major Nations Undermine UN Efforts: China and Russia block UN Security Council action
- Despite Strength, ASEAN Takes a Weak Approach: ASEAN's non-interference policy limits regional pressure
- Sanctions Can Work in Myanmar: Evidence junta responds to international pressure
- Conclusion: Persistence through sanctions and diplomacy urged
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The introduction clearly states a three-part thesis, giving the reader a precise roadmap for the argument that follows — each body section then addresses one of the stated factors.
- The paper balances acknowledgment of counterarguments (e.g., ASEAN's non-interference charter, the junta's isolationism) with evidence that refutes or complicates them, strengthening its overall persuasiveness.
- Concrete examples — Myanmar's removal from the money-laundering list, the 83% reduction in opium cultivation, and its decision to forgo the ASEAN chairmanship — ground abstract policy claims in verifiable events.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of a multi-stakeholder analytical framework. Rather than assigning blame to a single actor, it systematically evaluates the role of the UN, a regional bloc (ASEAN), and the target state itself (Myanmar), showing how their intersecting interests create a structural barrier to reform. This approach is characteristic of international relations analysis and models how to build a complex argument from discrete, well-supported claims.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with contextual background on Myanmar's political situation and a three-point thesis. It then devotes one section to each obstacle: UN inaction driven by Chinese and Russian economic interests; ASEAN's non-interference policy and its economic consequences; and the junta's responsiveness to international pressure. The conclusion synthesizes all three threads and reaffirms the central argument that sustained pressure — through sanctions and regional diplomacy — offers the best hope for change.
Introduction: Myanmar Under Military Rule
Since 1988, the people of Myanmar, a Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma, have suffered under the leadership of a repressive military junta. The group, which has shown it will stop at nothing to retain power, exhibits such isolationist tendencies that it relocated the country's capital from Rangoon to a remote jungle construction site called Naypyidaw (Pepper, 2006).
Reports of human rights abuses in Myanmar are rampant. The current regime has aggressively oppressed and relocated ethnic minorities, such as the Karens, and many minority groups have retreated into the dangerous and unsafe conditions of Myanmar's jungles rather than face the dangers of the oppressive regime (Pepper, 2006).
The ruling junta in Myanmar has also aggressively suppressed political dissidence and has essentially eliminated the country's democratic processes. The last free presidential elections were held in Myanmar in 1990, and after the main opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi prevailed, the junta refused to relinquish power (Shea, 2006). Further, Aung San Suu Kyi spent many of the succeeding years under house arrest and under the threat of assassination, which was nearly realized in a brazen attack linked to the government in 2003 (World Factbook, 2006).
The current conditions in Myanmar not only force residents to live in fear, but have also brought about economic sanctions and reductions in foreign investment that have hurt the population's standard of living. The situation in Myanmar has received global attention, but bringing political and human rights reforms to this rogue nation has proven difficult. Arguably, progress has been most hampered by the following three factors:
First, China and Russia have discouraged action by the United Nations because of their economic interests in Myanmar. Second, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), despite demonstrating the potential to influence Myanmar, has adopted a policy of non-interference. Third, government and non-government entities persist with the inaccurate belief that the ruling junta does not care about sanctions.
In the end, there may be no easy solution to the Myanmar crisis. But if political and human rights reforms are ever to occur, sanctions and influence from Myanmar's neighbors are the most likely agents of change.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.