Burmese Days

It may be counted a sign of progress – small, for sure, but real nonetheless – that the Guardian and Telegraph editorials this morning largely resist kneejerk calls for tightening sanctions on Burma in the wake of the absurd sentence given to Aung San Suu Kyi (though the Guardian spoils this by calling for action against companies that do business in Burma). The Times and the Independent, alas, demand more and better sanctions even though they must, surely, know that such sanctions, even were they to be agreed upon, would be unlikely to be applied.

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I’m not as convinced as Thomas Bell is that trade can open up Burma to the world and that economic liberalisation must lead to political liberalisation but I hope he’s right. Alas, I think we’ve seen that the rise of autocratic capitalism, especially in asia, means that the supposed link between trade and democracy is weaker than we once thought.