A grave humanitarian crisis right now is occurring in Myanmar, where more than 400,000 members of the country's Rohingya minority have fled to neighboring Bangladesh following a campaign of rape, destruction, and killing carried out by Myanmar's military. The crisis — deemed a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" by the United Nations Human Rights chief — has also damaged the reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader and iconic Nobel Peace laureate, who has downplayed the grievances of the Rohingya and refrained from criticizing the military in her public appearances.

Aung San Suu Kyi's silence has attracted widespread condemnation, not least from fellow Nobel laureates Desmond Tutu and Malala Yousafzai. But in an appearance at Asia Society on Friday, Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop argued that Myanmar's leader "may be taking the blame for matters that are outside her control."