The EU's Approach to Burma: How to Get Back into the Game.

The transition process in Burma has taken everybody by surprise. The November 2010 elections were easily 'won' by the USDP, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which represents the former junta. This triggered the usual criticism from Europe, which condemned the elections as 'an attempt to consolidate authoritarian military rule in a civilian guise'. But since then, Burma's military regime and elite have?without bloodshed?adopted a radical path from military dictatorship to democratization.