Burma: a test that ASEAN may be failing
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon shakes hands with Burmese President Thein Sein before their meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit. Ban said he planned to visit Burma 'as soon as possible', after talks with President Thein Sein where he urged progress on nascent reforms. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Julie Sheetz, Harvard University

Even before the announcement that ASEAN member states had awarded the 2014 rotating chairmanship to Burma, it was already a foregone conclusion.

Burma’s campaign to be reinstated as a regular member of ASEAN gained steam when Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, began hinting at approval before his visit to Naypyidaw, Burma’s capital, last month. Read more…