With the Cold War’s end —which had obfuscated structural constraints making states indifferent towards authoritarian regimes— Human rights (HR) has gained international currency, resulting in a commensurate rise in humanitarian intervention and new avenues for development of the EU's external HR policy. Here, we analyze EU HR norm promotion and its acceptance in the case of Myanmar, from an Asian perspective. Since the 1990s, the EU pressured Myanmar to improve its HR record by adopting: an isolationist sanction policy, an arms embargo (1990) and the EU Common Position on Burma (1996). Realizing that Myanmar’s, own international policy had itself been isolationist; the EU honed its policy towards engaging it in ASEM summits and appointed a special envoy (2007). To tame international pressure, Myanmar conducted elections (of questioned legitimacy, being based on a constitutional referendum adopted in the week following the catastrophic Cyclone Nargis), having held talks with recently released Aung San Suu Kyi, having suspended (though not terminated) the Chinese led Myitsone dam project, released (non-political) prisoners, formed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) (though not based on Paris principles) and allowed the UN Special Rapporteurs to visit after repeated requests. However, to avoid Myanmar sliding back into political slumber, the international community attempted to support these nascent political reformative steps with the US deciding to relax some international sanctions. The EU also needs to bridge norm promotion with its acceptance by analyzing gap-widening factors including “Asian” vs. “Western” values and the economic interest vs. HR debate. Leading by example with policy level changes, speaking in a unified voice, collaborating with internal democratic forces, making judicious use of tough economic sanctions along with requisite diplomatic intervention is also required, as HR issues have reinforced “Nordic regionalism” within the EU, with countries asserting their cultural distinctiveness by advocating pro-HR policy.
