Myanmar Junta Sets Election Date

Via CFR's Daily News Brief (Aug 13, 2010) -

Myanmar's ruling junta announced November 7 as the date (AP) for the country's first election in two decades; critics have dismissed the vote as a sham designed to cement military rule. The poll is the first since pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in 1990, but the military refused to recognize the results. CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick writes the elections present an opportunity for the United States to play a larger role in the country and possibly gain leverage with the regime.