How the EU's partnership with Myanmar is furthering its goals in Southeast Asia

In 2016, the EU agreed a ‘Special Partnership for Democracy, Peace and Prosperity’ with Myanmar. Ludovica Marchi assesses how the EU’s engagement with Myanmar has furthered its goals in Southeast Asia. The partnership advanced several EU ambitions, boosting the EU’s presence in the region, bolstering its relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and enhancing the EU’s role as an advocate of security policy cooperation

The EU’s role in developing security cooperation with Myanmar at the ASEAN Regional Forum: 2004-2008

This article tracks the European Union’s efforts at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), from 2004 to 2008, to encourage Myanmar directly or indirectly to engage in security cooperation. It, then, explores Myanmar and ASEAN’s reactions to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis to Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta in 2008. It focuses on ARF as a forum whereby interactions take place. It examines whether the complementary of the analytical variables provided by the logic of consequences and appropriateness (March & Olsen 1998, 2004), social mechanisms (Checkel 1999, 2005) and observations derived from interviews (Southeast Asia and Brussels) can explain ASEAN and Myanmar’s reactions and, also, the EU’s behaviour in relation to the Myanmar-Nargis event. The EU’s role is explored through the cochair’s summary reports of the meetings that the EU co-chaired with ASEAN. The article shows that, at ARF, the EU promoted the multilateral aspects of its policy in the field of security, and attempted to mobilise the different strengths, values and capacities of its partners, i.e. ASEAN and Myanmar. It uncovers the EU’s efforts to encourage both ASEAN to take up responsibilities and Myanmar to accept multilateral security options. The article argues that, as the EU tried to inspire Myanmar to connect with cooperation, ‘Myanmar hit by Cyclone Nargis’ encouraged the EU Council to include the ‘responsibility to protect’ as a new goal of the European foreign and security policy of December 2008

ASEAN vis-à-vis Myanmar: what influences at play?

Myanmar has recently made abrupt changes showing to detach itself from the label of pariah state and undemocratic regime. This paper focuses on the changing attitudes of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to Myanmar. A specific questions is posed: was ASEAN’s position on Yangon military junta ‘constant’ over time since 1991 when the European Union started to engage in sanction policy-making, or where there ‘changes’ in ASEAN’s attitude to Myanmar? Whereas many scholars have hinted at the non-interference issue characterising the Association’s conduct vis-a-vis Myanmar, this paper, by contrast, places emphasis on ASEAN itself affecting Myanmar’s transformation, thus revealing the originality of its contribution

The EU in Libya and the collapse of the CSDP

This article aims at exploring the unwillingness of the EU member states to sponsor a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) joint action within the EU framework as a response to the violence against civilians which erupted in Libya in 2011. It investigates the attitudes of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, as representative of the EU/27, toward the developments in Libya and a possible CSDP’s crisis-management operation. It discusses the assumption that the CSDP was prey to the member states’ wishes. The article avails itself of official documents from the UNSC, the European Union, EU laws, EU officials and prime ministers’ speeches, together with several interviews

The common security and defence policy in a state of flux?: the case of Libya in 2011

This article focuses on the European Union's reaction to the Libyan crisis in 2011 as a case study. It seeks to demonstrate the limitations of the ‘strategic culture approach’ in observing and explaining the EU's lack of a common response, which would have involved the development of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and to demonstrate that the ‘domestic level approach’ has greater explanatory power. It lays emphasis on France, Britain, Italy and Germany as a sample of the EU/27. The empirical material includes several interviews

What the EU could do to help ease the Rohingya crisis

Violence in Myanmar has resulted in more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims leaving the country and seeking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Ludovica Marchi argues that the EU should take advantage of its good relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help ease the crisis. There is potential for the EU, as an advocate of human rights, to exert pressure on Myanmar while working closely with ASEAN, which has a more sophisticated understanding of how to approach sensitive issues with the country’s government

Obstinate and unmovable? The EU vis-à-vis Myanmar via EU-ASEAN

This article examines continuity and change in the European Union’s interactions with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with regard to Myanmar. As the EU has used its connections with ASEAN to raise its concerns around Myanmar, the Association’s behaviour also comes into focus. This investigation is linked to the evolution of the EU in world affairs via its political ties to ASEAN. It concentrates on the rather abrupt change introduced by the reform process launched in 2011-12, which marked the beginning of a new phase. The EU’s concern that the Myanmar issue not destabilise its relations with ASEAN has remained constant, however changes in the dialogue can be seen as forming three distinct phases. It is maintained that the aspiration to escape from pervasive China and the desirability of attracting new partners were the catalyst for these changes. Official documents from the EU, the European Commission, and European Council Conclusions and Common Positions, declarations issued at ASEAN, Asia-Europe and other meetings, together with secondary sources and interviews conducted mostly in Myanmar, contribute to this work. While many scholars have hinted at the extent to which the issue of Myanmar has been problematic to the EU-ASEAN links, there has been no emphasis on the positive effect that Myanmar has had on EU-ASEAN relations. This research illuminates the exten

The EU and Myanmar: obsessed with ‘security’ in Southeast Asia?

Does the European (the EU and the member states’) focus on Myanmar tie in with their focus on China which has created security preoccupations due to its increasing influence on Myanmar and its neighbouring region? Both Myanmar’s president, Then Sein’s tour of the European capitals (Brussels included) and the European response to Sein’s request for cooperation at the beginning of 2013 shed light on the issue. Some responses from the member states specifically centred on cooperation in the field of security and offered a link to the Europeans’ broader concerns regarding China. The Rejectionist School approach contributes some reflections on President Sein’s attempts to build up Myanmar’s foreign policy in the EU