Finally, Aung San Suu Kyi gets to talk to a U.S. Secretary of State. Now what?
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton telephoned Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, marking the first U.S. Cabinet-level conversation with the Nobel Peace laureate in more than 15 years, according to U.S. officials and Burma experts. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley announced the call on his Twitter account. He said in an ...
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton telephoned Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, marking the first U.S. Cabinet-level conversation with the Nobel Peace laureate in more than 15 years, according to U.S. officials and Burma experts.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton telephoned Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, marking the first U.S. Cabinet-level conversation with the Nobel Peace laureate in more than 15 years, according to U.S. officials and Burma experts.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley announced the call on his Twitter account. He said in an e-mail that Clinton wrote to Suu Kyi after the Burmese leader was released from house arrest in November and followed up with Wednesday’s call, in which she "pledged to support [Suu Kyi] in her efforts to strengthen civil society and democracy in Burma."
Crowley added: "They talked briefly about what Aung San Suu Kyi has been doing since her release. The Secretary indicated that, both through the Embassy in Rangoon and from Washington, we would have further conversations on specific ideas." Read rest of my article at the Washington Post.
Follow me on Twitter @columlynch
Colum Lynch was a staff writer at Foreign Policy between 2010 and 2022. Twitter: @columlynch
More from Foreign Policy

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.