ABSTRACT
The European Union’s engagement with Myanmar is at its most active and substantive in the trajectory of the EU’s relations with that country. This is most evident in the post-2011 reform years, when Myanmar embarked on a transition to democracy and an end to the decades-long civil war. Ethnic armed insurgencies have created a challenging legacy of trust deficit in the country since Burma regained independence from the British. The prolonged conflict with some ethnic armed groups and the tensions in Rakhine State have caused widespread human suffering with numerous casualties and socio-economic losses. The situation has garnered international attention, even as peace negotiations, which started under the previous administration, continue under the current leadership of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. This chapter will discuss the EU’s interventions for peace and human security in Myanmar in this new dimension of internationalisation. Using the EU’s strategy to support peace in Myanmar as an example, the chapter also posits that the EU’s interactions with Myanmar have shifted significantly towards a process akin to that of ASEAN’s constructive engagement policy, and makes a comparative analysis of the approaches of the two regional organisations for engaging with Myanmar.
