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.