Thread: US interests in Burma/Myanmar

A friend of mine is a Major in the Thai army and part of his job is to participate in military negotiations with the Burmese.

He asked me 'What are the REAL reasons the US are so interested in Burma?'

Now, Burma/Myanmar does have oil and natural gas, and also a fair bit of gems. They also have a bit of teak forest left.

But are the above reasons strong enough to explain the interest the US take in the country, or is there something else as well?

Obviously the democracy issue has some weight, but I think it is a bit of a red herring - the US only go on about democracy in countries where they have a personal interest for some reason. Otherwise they would be more active with sanctions against other countries too.

So why?

I don't think they care that much. Like Cuba, it's more about showing off they have some kind of say in a region, but it's irrelevant. Maybe the CIA want to go there and trade with the drug lords over there.

Are the US that interested in Burma? I've not seen anything to suggest that they have specifically targeted Burma as a place high on their list of places to meddle with.

But, if that is true, Burma will quickly rise to promenance if they manage to govern themselves properly. They were the richest country in Asia in the early 60s due to their work ethic, intelligence and natural resouces. If they do get their government sorted out, the US and anyone else would want to be at the head of the queue to invest there, as the rewards would be pretty good in my reckoning.

"The essence of this new geopolitical game in Central Asia is twofold: first, control of production of the oil and gas, and second, control of the pipelines"

In 1998, Dick Cheney, now US vice-president but then chief executive of a major oil services company, remarked: "I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian." But the oil and gas there is worthless until it is moved. The only route which makes both political and economic sense is through Afghanistan.

John Maresca, Unocal Corp:
"I would like to focus today on three issues. First, the need for multiple pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas resources. Second, the need for U.S. support for international and regional efforts to achieve balanced and lasting political settlements to the conflicts in the region, including Afghanistan. Third, the need for structured assistance to encourage economic reforms and the development of appropriate investment climates in the region."

These pipelines are inteded to go to the Indian Ocean, Burma is an alternative path.

Originally Posted by Skulldigger

Now, Burma/Myanmar does have oil and natural gas, and also a fair bit of gems.

They have a lot of it...

Myanmar certainly is a focal point for global oil strategies. China is on with it as well:

"As Professor Li Chengyang, co-author of the proposal said, "Most of China's oil imports come from the Middle East and Africa. Given the current situation in the Malacca Strait, we feel we should come up with a suitable alternative." The proposal suggested that China should build an oil pipeline from Myanmar's western deep-water port of Sittwe across the country to the city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt discussed the plans for an oil pipeline when they met on July 11 in Beijing. The project would reduce the oil route by 1,820 sea miles compared with the Malacca route, estimate experts.

But this is not the only option weighed by China. Plans are afoot to build oil pipelines to China from other Asian countries, including Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Of these proposals, the one from Thailand has gone the furthest and received enormous support from the Thai government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thailand's state energy conglomerate PTT and China's giant oil major Sinopec announced in June that they were looking into the possibility of a new pipeline so that oil tankers from the Middle East don't have to pass through the Malacca Strait. The project was announced in Manila at the business forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The new pipeline would save as much as a week of voyage time for crude oil shipments to China, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines."
http://www.energybulletin.net/2255.html

Docking tankers in Ranong to pump oil to China doesn't on the face of it seem to be any kind of saving. This is more likely a sweetner to bring Thailand closer to the Chinese fold, not that much sweetner is needed with the present "thai" government. Burma itself is well on the way to becomming a Chinese colony. The only thing stopping it's ruined economy sinking out of sight is Chinese financial and military aid.