Authors
Lex Rieffel
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development
David Steinberg
Distinguished Professor, School of Foreign Service - Georgetown University
Editor’s note: With Myanmar holding its first elections in 20 years on November 7, Lex Rieffel and David Steinberg discuss the reasons behind why the military junta are holding elections now and explain why western pressure after the elections in Myanmar could be counterproductive.
The military junta in Myanmar recently announced that the country’s first election in 20 years will be held Nov. 7.
This is the country formerly known as Burma, that went to the polls in 1990 and voted overwhelmingly for the National League for Democracy (NLD), only to have the results thrown out by the junta.