Executive Summary: "In January 2012, an Asia Society delegation visited Burma/Myanmar to engage in a Track II dialogue with the Myanmar Development Resources Institute (MDRI), a newly created, independent think tank based in Yangon. The MDRI participants in the dialogue include advisors with a mandate to provide policy advice in the areas of political, economic, and legal affairs to President Thein Sein and his government. The goal of this informal dialogue is to establish an ongoing channel of communication between experts from both countries and to explore opportunities to advance U.S.–Myanmar relations during a particularly fluid and fragile period of transition in Myanmar. The Asia Society group includes specialists in the areas of political affairs, rule of law, democracy building, economic development, and environmental sustainability. In addition to the Track II meetings with presidential advisors, our group held in-depth discussions with senior officials in the following ministries: Foreign Affairs, Culture, Commerce, Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Health, Science and Technology, Education, and Information. Our group also met with business leaders; members of civil society; representatives from the National League for Democracy (NLD), including Aung San Suu Kyi; and a wide array of community activists, including minority nationalities. This effort builds on the work carried out by Asia Society?s Task Force on U.S. Policy toward Burma/Myanmar, as well as seminal meetings convened by Asia Society in New York in September 2011 that brought together for the first time policy makers from Myanmar, the United States, and the broader international community to informally discuss prospects for reform in Myanmar. This report provides our assessment of the nature of the changes that are under way in Myanmar and the challenges and vulnerabilities that the country faces. We conclude by recommending measures that the United States can undertake at this critical moment to encourage, support, and advance the institutionalization of sustainable democracy in Myanmar."