Myanmar’s Closing

This week, Mike and Jude are joined by Erin Murphy, Deputy Director
and Senior Fellow for the Economics Program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she is currently
transitioning to the Asia Program. Erin's career has so far spanned
public and private sector roles, including as an analyst on Asian
political and foreign policy issues at the Central Intelligence
Agency, director for the Indo-Pacific at the U.S. International
Development Finance Corporation, and founder and principal of a
boutique advisory firm focused on Myanmar. She is also the author
of Burmese Haze: US Policy and Myanmar's Opening-and Closing
(Association for Asian Studies, 2022).   The conversation
begins by examining the state of affairs in Myanmar, including the
lead up and aftermath of the 2021 military coup. Next they explore
Myanmar’s relationship with China and the degree of Beijing’s
policy influence over the the current leadership. They observe
Myanmar’s evolving relationships with India and Japan, before
turning to consider the space available for China to make common
cause with other countries in the region to address some of the
problems unfolding in Myanmar. They conclude by discussing the
impact of the ongoing crisis in Myanmar on ASEAN, and surveying
Myanmar’s possible trajectories in the medium and long
term.