The European Union, human rights and Burma/Myanmar: Stakeholders’ perceptions in Southeast Asia

• Main Author: PORTELA, Clara
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Asian Studies; International Relations; Political Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research_all/10
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The present chapter explores attitudes towards the EU‘s role in promoting human rights among stakeholders in Southeast Asia. It does so by analysing how EU sanctions against Burma/Myanmar were perceived by stakeholders in a selection of ASEAN countries - Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam - prior to the launch of the reform process by the Myanmar leadership in 2011. The time frame explored corresponds to the mid-2000s, i.e. a period where the confrontation between the EU and ASEAN countries over Myanmar was still at the height of its intensity. The chapter provides a comparative overview over the role that this issue played in the perceptions of political. civil society. media and business "elite" groups.