It was in many ways a landmark visit.

This June Shwe Mann, speaker of the lower house of the Burmese parliament, spent nine days touring the United States. In Washington, he met Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, among other leading U.S. legislators. He held meetings with Burmese exiles in San Francisco – long staunch opponents of the military dictatorship in their home country – and paid a visit to the United Nations in New York.

Shwe Mann’s visit was remarkable not only because he, a former general, had been among the leaders