Showing 1 - 10 of 12
Hun Sen is Cambodia's de facto FM
Oped, David Hutt, Published on 14/06/2024
» Who exactly is in charge of foreign affairs in Cambodia? Judging by the last few months, Hun Sen, the former prime minister turned Senate president, appears to be pulling the strings. At least he's now the main mouthpiece.
The threat posed by Cambodia's new strongman
Oped, Mu Sochua, Published on 26/04/2024
» Although 2024 is being heralded as a banner year for elections, with dozens of countries -- representing more than half the global population -- holding polls, for some, it marks the nadir of democracy. Cambodia is one such case.
Saroj, the consummate diplomat
News, Darmp Sukontasap, Published on 08/02/2024
» During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, several YouTube clips from the 1950s featuring youngsters from various parts of the world participating in the Foreign Exchange Programme sponsored by the US government became an internet sensation. Many of these clips went viral and received tens of thousands of hits and hundreds of comments.
Time for Biden to build bridges with Hun Sen
Oped, Christopher Beres, Published on 17/12/2021
» As is widely known, in 1975, the United States abandoned Cambodia's Lon Nol government and the Khmer Rouge took power. What is less known is that at the time then-freshman Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware supported the evacuation of Vietnam and Cambodia. On April 25, 1975, the United States exited Cambodia. Sirik Matak Sisowath, the former Cambodian prime minister who refused to leave and who was killed by the Khmer Rouge days later, famously remarked: "I have only committed the mistake of believing in you [the Americans]."
Cambodia takes to global stage again
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 02/11/2021
» For the next 365 days, every move Cambodia, especially Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, makes or takes will be scrutinised by strategists and political pundits around the world. Phnom Penh will be the new fulcrum in the post-pandemic era to which global leaders can converge and discuss their future, which could further intensify cooperation or tension. After nearly four decades of continuous power, Hun Sen's brinkmanship is well known and most of all, he knows exactly what he wants to say and do. Uniquely, none of the regional leaders knows the region's pulse and global politics as well as Hun Sen.
Why the West should not give up on Cambodia
News, George Yeo, Published on 02/11/2019
» The US and EU are considering withdrawing economic privileges from Cambodia for the way elections were held last year. The ruling party won all parliamentary seats because the opposition had been crippled. Opposition leaders were disqualified and their party dissolved. By western standards, Cambodia's election fell far short of democratic norms and the result was unfair at best, illegitimate at worst. Strangely, however, there was no widespread protest. Instead, there was a palpable sense of relief among ordinary Cambodians when the elections were over.
Why 'permanent neutrality' doesn't work in Cambodia
News, Sek Sophal, Published on 03/01/2019
» The end of the Cold War marked a turning point in international politics -- the collapse of socialism and the planned economy and the rise of democracy and a free market economy. Ideological conflict became a thing of the past. The absence of the East-West confrontation, however, did not necessarily constitute the absence of a power struggle.
Abetting dictators
News, Editorial, Published on 12/12/2018
» The sudden government interest in apprehending political opponents of foreign governments is disappointing. It may be coincidence but in just a week, police have forcibly detained critics of the governments of Cambodia and Bahrain. The arrests and threats of deportation or extradition to these undemocratic countries go against normal human rights practices. They also violate decades of Thai policy that often welcomed and never threatened lives of foreigners pitted against their governments.
Hun Sen plays global politics with election
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 31/07/2018
» The international community, through the United Nations, helped Cambodia to organise its first and only "free and fair" elections in 1993. It was a wonderful moment for a country emerging from civil war, which has confidently moved forward ever since. Cambodia has been very much on its own, with up and down political contours. This past Sunday, Cambodia held its sixth election, with the Cambodian People's Party winning the majority of seats.
Trump-Kim meet a gift for Southeast Asia
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 19/06/2018
» All the hullabaloo surrounding the historic Trump-Kim summit in Singapore must be discarded if one wants to seriously assess the overall ripple effects, in particular, the four-point statement. For the region, at least for now, the tight knot of a nuclear war has been untied. After all, President Donald Trump gave his personal assurance of this after he returned to the United States from his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. That is good for Southeast Asia as a whole. If there is a war, the region's progress would be badly undermined as much as, if not more, than those of the two protagonists. The US provides a marketplace and the Korean Peninsula remains the last stronghold of long-awaited peace and stability.