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Published: November 10, 2012 12:00AM, Today
As part of what The New
York Times aptly calls a “geopolitical chess game,” next week President
Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the
southeast Asian nation of Myanmar.
Unlike some chess strategies that
are difficult to discern, Obama’s intent seems clear: In the wake of his
re-election Tuesday, he is wasting no time signaling that U.S. foreign
policy will continue shifting to the Pacific during his second term.
Obama, who also plans stops in
Cambodia and Thailand, wants to promote democracy and economic
cooperation in the region — and counter an increasingly powerful and
aggressive China by strengthening U.S. ties with its neighbors.
Obama’s trip is already drawing fire
from critics who argue that the president is putting his seal of
approval on an authoritarian government that only recently embarked on a
reformist course.
Those critics are right that
Myanmar’s changes are in the fragile, early stages. Despite significant
progress — President U Thein Sein has freed hundreds of political
prisoners, removed officials resistant to reform and allowed opposition
leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party to run for Parliament — the
country could easily slide back into authoritarianism, and there are
disturbing reports of forced labor and human rights abuses.
But Obama was right to meet with Aung
San Suu Kyi when she visited Washington, D.C., in September, and to
ease sanctions as part of a step-by-step process of encouraging reform. A
visit by a U.S. president could help solidify and quicken the pace of
reform. It also communicates the United States’ interest in trade at a
time there is growing resistance in Myanmar to China’s aggressive
pursuit of the country’s natural resources.
After Myanmar, Obama will attend the
summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia, where
he is expected to affirm that America is a reliable and steadfast
economic partner in the region.
Change will take time in Myanmar — as
it has in Cambodia, where are still troubling reports of human rights
abuses. But Obama is right to hasten the pace through engagement.
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