On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the economic sanctions that have been imposed by the U.S. and “other Western governments had failed to pressure the repressive Burmese government,” thus pointing to a potential shift in U.S. policy on Burma.
At a news conference in Jakarta, Clinton “did not deny that easing sanctions was one of the ideas under consideration by the Obama administration as part of a major review.”
“We are looking at possible ideas that can be presented,” she told reporters and said that she had discussed the issue with Indonesia officials here.
“Clearly the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta,” she said, adding that the route taken by Burma’s neighbors of “reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them either.”
Burma (aka Myanmar), is considered to be one of the “world’s most oppressive nations.” Secretary Clinton is reported to have been ”careful not to tip her hand on the direction of the policy review,” but she also spoke in using mild terms ”about the Burmese government, describing ‘the unfortunate path’ taken by Burma, leaving it ‘impervious to influence from anyone.’”
It remains to be seen if Clinton can help to “liberate Burma.” It is definitely time for some major shifts in Foreign Policy and I look for great things to come from Secretary Clinton. Check out the latest on DipNote, by the way, it’s a great little human interest piece about HRC’s visit to Jakarta.
UPDATE: Incase you missed Secretary Clinton’s interview on Tuesday with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell you can watch it here:
[Originally published at TaylorMarsh.com]
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