The 11th Asean Summit has just recently wrapped up here in Kuala Lumpur. The focus of this year's summit was on creating a unified vision for the Asean countries. The summit was accompanied by mild change in attitude towards Burma, as the other Asean leaders have admitted that Burma's failure to 'get its act together' is an embarrassment to Asean. Malaysia has pressed for a delegation to be allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi in detention. We certianly shouldn't overlook the positive aspect of the change in attitude, even if it is superficial, as being at least some indication that public pressure on the issue is trickling down to Burma's neighbors. But one also has to wonder if Asean is actually embarrassed by the appalling human rights abuses occurring, or if it is embarrassed by the Junta's particularly uncouth way of pretending the 'elephant' in the room doesn't exist. I can't help but wonder if they might be less embarrassed if the junta had a slightly more sophisticated or intelligent diplomacy. It seems 'Myanmar' is becoming the drunken uncle no one wants to sit next to at the wedding.   more »