While Burma's military-backed regime should be commended for their efforts and willingness to steer the country towards democracy, the decision by the other nine countries of ASEAN to award Burma the rotating ASEAN chairmanship for 2014 may be premature and should have been conditional. Fuadi Pitsuwan, Adjunct Research Scholar in the Asian Studies Department at Georgetown University, argues that "But now that the decision has been made, the world cannot afford to see Burma fail. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to the country is a significant step in probing the Burmese government's commitment to reform."

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