The role of policy entrepreneurs in the making of US foreign policy is generally understudied. In what ways can insights about policy entrepreneurship add to existing explanations of foreign policy behavior? What main types of policy entrepreneurs can we distinguish, and how do they operate? Under what conditions are policy entrepreneurs likely to be successful in influencing Washington’s foreign policy towards other countries? This presentation examines these and other questions in relation to important shifts and decisions in US foreign policy toward Myanmar over the past two decades, including the imposition of sanctions, the embrace of pragmatic re-engagement under President Obama, and the termination in 2016 of the national emergency that President Clinton had declared with respect to Myanmar.

Jürgen Haacke is Associate Professor in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and currently a Visiting Scholar at the East-West Center. From 2016 to 2018 he was the Director of the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Center. He is the author of ASEAN’s Diplomatic and Security Culture and Myanmar’s Foreign Policy: Domestic Influences and International Implications. He has also published in several important journals such as Security Studies, Review of International Studies, Global Responsibility to Protect, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. His current teaching and research are primarily focused on international relations in Southeast Asia.

The role of policy entrepreneurs in the making of US foreign policy is generally understudied. In what ways can insights about policy entrepreneurship add to existing explanations of foreign policy behavior? What main types of policy entrepreneurs can we distinguish, and how do they operate? Under what conditions are policy entrepreneurs likely to be successful in influencing Washington’s foreign policy towards other countries? This presentation examines these and other questions in relation to important shifts and decisions in US foreign policy toward Myanmar over the past two decades, including the imposition of sanctions, the embrace of pragmatic re-engagement under President Obama, and the termination in 2016 of the national emergency that President Clinton had declared with respect to Myanmar.

Jürgen Haacke is Associate Professor in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and currently a Visiting Scholar at the East-West Center. From 2016 to 2018 he was the Director of the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Center. He is the author of ASEAN’s Diplomatic and Security Culture and Myanmar’s Foreign Policy: Domestic Influences and International Implications. He has also published in several important journals such as Security Studies, Review of International Studies, Global Responsibility to Protect, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. His current teaching and research are primarily focused on international relations in Southeast Asia.