Myanmar’s Future and U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities - Alice D. Ba
Alice D. Ba explores the dynamics of Myanmar and U.S. foreign policy, highlighting Washington’s deep concerns and active involvement in the country’s ongoing crisis. Myanmar’s prolonged instability has led to power vacuums that fuel transnational crime and human trafficking—key issues for U.S. foreign policy. Given Myanmar’s strategic location between China and India, the United States sees its stability as vital to regional balance. As a major contributor to humanitarian and democratization efforts, the U.S. has supported initiatives that empower local actors and institutions.
However, Ba emphasizes that the future of Myanmar must ultimately be determined by its own people. While the U.S. has a role in fostering an environment conducive to dialogue and peaceful resolution, sustainable outcomes must be locally led. For Myanmar and U.S. foreign policy to align effectively, external actors must avoid dominating the process, ensuring that legitimacy stems from regional and domestic ownership.
This video was filmed during the Hollings Center’s dialogue program Myanmar and Southeast Asia:
Challenges and Opportunities in Regional Relations, which occurred in February 2025.
Speaker Biography
Alice D. Ba is the Emma Smith Morris Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. She has published widely on the international relations of East and Southeast Asia, the politics and processes of regionalism, and Southeast Asia’s relations with China and the United States. Recent publications have addressed the roles of strategic narratives, the systemic effects of multilateralism and domestic change in Asia, ASEAN’s legitimization strategies and challenges, and the interplay between institutional frameworks in Asia. She is also the author of (Re)Negotiating East and Southeast Asia: Region, Regionalism, and ASEAN (Stanford 2009) and received US Fulbright awards for work in Beijing and Singapore. At the University of Delaware, she served as department acting chair (2023-2024) and director of Asian Studies (2009-2014).
