President Obama will visit Naypyitaw later this week to attend the East Asia Summit and the US-ASEAN Summit. On Friday he will meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently stated that the US has sometimes been “over-optimistic about the reform process”. At The Diplomat, Steve Hirsch has a good analysis of Obama’s objectives for the trip – chiefly to ensure that Myanmar stays on the side of the angels by investing fully in democracy and human rights.

I was in Yangon two years ago when, on November 19, Obama joined then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a six-hour drop-by – the first ever visit by a sitting US president. The atmosphere in a city visibly spruced up for the occasion was electric, and at least for one afternoon Obama’s impact was enormous. Standing on the crowded street outside Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence, I tried to count the size of his motorcade as it pulled out of her driveway – something between 40 and 50 cars bracketing the presidential limo.

The following day, I happened to meet with Daw Suu and said how surprised I was to see so many vehicles accompanying the president on his trip. “Ridiculous,” she said. “All those big cars in my little garden.”