I'll second Yglesias' recommendation of Kerry Howley's column on the Chinese connection to Burma. No one is arguing that the PRC has covered itself with glory through its relations with Burma. However, it is much more difficult for a large country to get a small country to do what it wants than commonly believed. The prospects for forcing a small authoritarian country to change depend on a combination of internal and external factors, including the presence within the regime of a faction with a substantial interest in openness to the international community. In the 1970s, the United States found its Central American client states remarkably resistant to diplomatic pressure to liberalize their political systems. This isn't to say that China couldn't do more, and certainly the military junta in Burma takes comfort in the notion that, whatever the Chinese may say in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, Beijing probably doesn't care a whit about Burmese domestic politics. But it's not accurate to say that the road to Burma runs through Beijing. --Robert Farley
