Myanmar in the EU-ASEAN Relationship

Programme

Myanmar – What’s up Next?

Over the past 20 years, the EU has repeatedly criticized the human rights situation in Myanmar. The EU critique did not only address Myanmar, but also ASEAN’s way of handling the issue of Myanmar. ASEAN became bothered over what seemed to be an 'EU obsession' on human rights in Myanmar, particularly as the EU has not been perceived to put its own rhetorical statements into practice. If nothing else, the issue of Myanmar has stressed the difficulties in inter-regional dialogues. But the question is, then, how much has Myanmar actually impacted the overall EU-ASEAN relationship? This question is critical given recent developments in Myanmar since the 2010 elections, the gradual political reforms and opening up that is taking place and the subsequent lifting of sanctions by the EU.

Ms Sanne Brasch Kristensen is a  PhD fellow in the Department of Society and Globalization at Roskilde University in Denmark. Her main research focus is on “The EU as global actor and securitization in regional international societies: the value of norms in the EU’s interregional dialogue with ASEAN and SADC”.

Download the Presentation of Ms. Sanne Brasch Kristensen