Asia Society Task Force Report Launch

Current Realities and Future Possibilities in Burma/Myanmar: Options for U.S. Policy

In September 2009, the United States announced a new course in its policy toward Burma following a review undertaken by the Obama administration. Recognizing that decades of isolation and sanctions have done little to influence change in Burma, the U.S. introduced a policy of "pragmatic engagement," initiating efforts to expand channels of communication with Burma's military leaders.

Against this backdrop, the Asia Society established a high-level Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Burma/Myanmar to assess the new policy direction and provide recommendations for how the United States can best pursue this path of engagement. By tying improvements in the bilateral relationship to concrete actions on the part of the Burmese leadership, the report elaborates how elements of the policy recommendations might play out according to both negative and positive developments. In addition to the report of the Task Force, the Asia Society is simultaneously releasing a wide-ranging review of Asian policy toward Burma, incorporating national perspectives from leading experts in nine Asian countries, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. Please join us for a discussion with Task Force members of the findings and recommendations outlined in the report and the collection of reports from Asia.

Speakers:

General Wesley Clark, U.S. Army (Ret.); Senior Fellow, Burkle Center for International Relations, UC Los Angeles (Task Force Co-Chair)

Henrietta Fore, Former Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development; Chairman and CEO, Holsman International (Task Force Co-Chair)

Priscilla Clapp, Former U.S. Chief of Mission in Burma (Task Force Senior Advisor)

Suzanne DiMaggio, Director of Policy Studies, Asia Society (Project Director)

For more information, please visit AsiaSociety.org/BurmaMyanmarReport.

Please note: This event will also be a free live video webcast on AsiaSociety.org from 8:30 to 10:00 am EST. Online viewers are encouraged to submit their questions to [email protected]. /