This presentation will survey the changing relations between the US and Burma since World War II. The importance of Burma to American policy makers the during the early Cold War has been forgotten, after Vietnam came to dominate US concerns about Southeast Asia in the 1960s. After Ne Win took control of Burma in a military coup in 1962, Burma soon became less important to the United States in Cold War terms, with narcotics control emerging as the dominant issue. The Revolution of August 8, 1988, and the emergence of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi put Burma squarely into focus again with much disagreement about how to respond to the brutality of the military junta. This talk will explore the debate about imposing strong sanctions on Burma, the change in policy under President Obama, the impact of the sanctions, and the degree to which concerns about China influenced American policy toward Myanmar.