Joshua Kurlantzick says, "... Thailand, once a poster child for democratization in the developing world, has undergone perhaps the most rapid and severest democratic regression in the entire world."
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) released its TEL Strategic Action Plan: 2010 – 2015 at the 8th Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information Industry in Japan on October 30-31, 2010.
Joshua Kurlantzick warns that while investors may look on Burma as a potential emerging market, they should be aware that Burma has experienced periods of short-lived openness before.
Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses the significant risk of conflict in the South China Sea and how the United States can prevent becoming involved in an armed clash.
Joshua Kurlantzick and Elizabeth Leader discuss how the newest threats to expression and access on the Internet are not coming from authoritarian states, but instead from somewhere more surprising: electoral democracies like Thailand, Turkey, and South Korea.
Joshua Kurlantzick says that even though its by-elections were relatively free and fair, Burma remains a long way from a truly democratic culture of elections.
The elections brought democratic forces into parliament for the first time in fifty years. But Myanmar's rapid reforms still must be viewed as small steps in a country where military forces retain considerable power, writes CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick.
Myanmar's sudden transition from repressive pariah to potential democracy should be viewed through the lens of a military alarmed by people power revolts and by the country's increasingly shaky economic condition, says CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick.
Joshua Kurlantzick says that despite the hopes raised by the Arab Spring, democracy is actually in retreat around the world, but there is a way to revive it.
Joshua Kurlantzick says dramatic signs of political opening and reform by Myanmar's new civilian government suggest the limits of international pressure.
Secretary Clinton is in Myanmar to gauge recent reforms by the military-backed regime. Experts are calling for further democratization, including strengthening the rule of law and reconciliation with ethnic minority groups.
Speaker: Aung San Suu Kyi Presider: Paula J. Dobriansky
In a meeting conducted via videoconference, Aung San Suu Kyi discusses recent changes in Myanmar, her decision to rejoin the political system, and Myanmar-U.S. relations.
In this Policy Innovation Memorandum, Joshua Kurlantzick argues that the United States should play a much larger role in shaping Myanmar's reforms by launching a new strategy of engagement, including a sizable aid package, upgraded diplomatic relations, and, if reforms continue, an end to American sanctions.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
The author assesses the causes and consequences of the violence faced by several Central American countries and examines the national, regional, and international efforts intended to curb its worst effects.