Introduction to Contemporary Cambodia (original) (raw)

CAMBODIA'S FOREIGN RELATIONS IN REGIONAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXTS

KAS Cambodia, 2017

A look at Cambodia’s history and present shows the multifaceted nature of its foreign relations and how the relations have shaped the political, socio-cultural and economic landscape of the Kingdom. In this regard, foreign relations, simply put the relations between Cambodia and other states or international institutions, have been a double-edged sword. On one side, there were conflicts, war and diplomatic tensions due to reasons of ideology and national interest, imperialism and mutual misunderstanding. A case in point is the Preah Vihear conflict between Thailand and Cambodia as well as the Indochina war in the 60s and bombardments against Cambodia in the 70s. On the other side, foreign relations have been a source of inspiration, cooperation and development. New political and economic ideas have been exchanged across borders and led to growth and prosperity. Common international environmental and security challenges have been tackled in a cooperative way sharing the same vision. There are countless examples buttressing the positive effects of cooperation like the UNTAC peace mission, the results of development cooperation and ASEAN. Even if it is not always easy to bring stakeholders together, to create a common basis of mutual understanding, to design cross border decision-making procedures or to overcome national interests and historical resentments, the avoidance of war and insecurity is worth all the efforts. Cambodia has, since 1991, deepened and extended its foreign relations with regional and international partners, always envisioning the relevance of national stability, national interests and sovereignty. It is due to the importance of Cambodia´s foreign relations that Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia, in cooperation with the editors of this book, decided to create a comprehensive source of information on the Foreign Relations in Regional and Global Contexts of the Kingdom of Cambodia. As there is, to-date, a limited number of publications available, this book serves as a useful guide into the different relations and dynamics between Cambodia and its diverse cooperation partners. The publication is a comprehensive and thought-provoking contribution to the academic field of foreign relations and international studies as well as to all interested people. One particular aim of the book has been to motivate Cambodian scholars and students to academically engage with research questions about the relations of Cambodia with other countries and contribute with their articles towards the analysis and general better understanding of Cambodia’s foreign relations. The book is structured in four main parts, namely the relations with neighboring countries and maritime southeast Asia, relations with regional and global powers, memberships in international organizations and economic integration and security policy. Articles about Cambodia’s relations with neighboring countries and maritime southeast Asia is mainly concentrating on the difficult position Cambodia has, being located in the middle of two strong countries: Thailand and Vietnam. To give a balanced view the editors and KAS chosen to give a platform for authors from both of these countries. This part of the book also enlightens Cambodia’s relations to Laos and in general the importance of relations to the neighboring countries in the context of ASEAN. Articles about Cambodia’s relations with regional and global powers, especially the bounds to the three superpowers China, United States and the Soviet Union/Russia is the central theme of the publication. The tensions and cooperation Cambodia had with these countries are interwoven with all other parts of the book. Other partner countries focused on are the European Union, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and India. These chapters give the reader an insight about the rapidly rising economic ties Cambodia is establishing. Furthermore, the publication contains articles about Cambodia’s membership in international organizations and economic integration and security cooperation. Articles introduce the reader to Cambodia’s role in the ASEAN and its relation to the United Nations. Economically and security wise the reader learns about Cambodia’s defense policy, the Greater Mekong Subregional Cooperation (GMS) and Cambodia’s integration in global economic and financial systems.

An Economic History of Cambodia in the Twentieth Century

South East Asia Research, 2013

Preface xv duced laws and other offi cial notices, provided information about exchange rates, shipping manifests and international markets, and off ered statistical analyses of the Cambodian economy. Given the prestige of the Chamber of Commerce and its proximity to government, the bulletin's sources were practically guaranteed. In view of these omissions, therefore, Prud'homme's "tool" had limitations. Th e present situation is very diff erent in terms of sources. For an analysis of the Cambodian economy in the year 2005, taken as a convenient cutoff point, there is an abundance of statistics, reports, analyses, prognoses and so on of the Cambodian economy. A reliable general population census was conducted in 1998, and in addition to this essential resource, the National Institute of Statistics conducted regular socioeconomic surveys, produced statistical yearbooks and, in 2003, published the results of a survey of industrial establishments in the country. In addition to these offi cial sources, there are the publications of respected in-country research organisations such as the Cambodia Development Resource Institute and the Economic Institute of Cambodia, as well as reports of international fi nancial institutions (Th e World Bank and Asian Development Bank) and those of Cambodia-based international and local non-government agencies. Th e important point to be made about all the sources discussed above is that they are more or less static portrayals of the Cambodian economy. Robequain and Delvert do depict economies that are in the process of dynamic evolution and to this extent they are economic histories. Nevertheless, their period of study is set within rather short timeframes. Current studies of the Cambodian economy, almost without exception, lack historical hindsight. Weaknesses in economic structures and institutions are commonly attributed to general destruction caused by three decades of confl ict, and historical analysis rarely goes beyond this simple reference. War and revolution most certainly did severely damage the Cambodian economy, but to what extent did these historical events change the underlying structures and relations of production, the patterns of the economy? What role did economic factors play in instigating war and revolution? An economic history should off er probable explanations, if not defi nitive answers, to questions like these. Th e aim of this monograph, therefore, is to study the patterns and structures that persist in various aspects of the economy as well as in policy and planning approaches so that Westerners who engage with the Cambodian economy whether for investment, development or for academic purposes, or to deliver humanitarian assistance, might better understand the point in time at which they are intervening and appreciate the Cambodian people's experience and past eff orts to modernise their country's xvi Preface economy. Th is is a general history of the Cambodian economy, not a technical economic treatise. It focuses on a series of deliberate eff orts over the course of the twentieth century to shape Cambodia's economy into a preferred mode or according to a preferred ideology. Cambodia, of course, was not unique in making these attempts, although the circumstances it faced and measures it adopted to overcome them were typically extreme. Other countries in the region, Indonesia under Sukarno, for example, pursued policies not dissimilar to those adopted by King Sihanouk in the post-colonial phase. With less rigour than Democratic Kampuchea, after 1975 the other states of former Indochina, Vietnam and Laos, also applied Marxist economic principles to revive their economies from near-total collapse caused by war. Since the early 1990s, and especially since the 1997 Asian fi nancial crisis, Cambodia, along with most of the member states of ASEAN, has been required to comply with the neo-liberal reform measures dictated by Th e World Bank/IMF. Cambodia's economic development, therefore, has taken place within the broader context of regional economic change and development. It is hoped that this study will make a contribution to the existing scholarship on the economic history of Southeast Asia and thereby assist Cambodian scholars to make critical comparisons and draw conclusions that will deepen our understanding of the way the economy functions and how it interrelates with other regional economies. While conscious of the pitfalls that the various approaches to the recording of such an economic history entail, I have chosen to adopt a purely temporal approach. Following an introduction that describes the fundamental features of physical and human geography, levels of human development and benchmarks of economic activity in Cambodia around the year 2000, the history of Cambodia's modern economy is traced from the latter half of the French Protectorate, to the post-independence (fi rst) Kingdom of Cambodia, through the Khmer Republic, the revolutionary regimes of Democratic Kampuchea and the People's Republic of Kampuchea, to around the midpoint of the third legislature of the Second Kingdom of Cambodia, that is, approximately the year 2005. Generally speaking, therefore, the time span of modern economic development in Cambodia coincides with the twentieth century. Within each of those already defi ned political eras, the economy is regarded from the viewpoint of the same socioeconomic categories, including administration and governance, population, human development, economic activity, foreign trade, aid, investment and debt, as well as public fi nance, banking and credit. Th e concluding chapter considers some of the challenges facing the Cambodian economy in the twenty-fi rst century.

Advancing Cambodia’s Economic Diplomacy and Development: Challenges and the Way Forward

From an international political point of view, the concept of power is more concentrated on political and military rather than economic dimensions. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which marked a major turning point as regards the focus on economic development and the reinforcement of globalization, states have expanded new attention to the economic spheres. Such attention shifts can be understood through the incremental change in observable patterned behavior of states.

Rethinking Cambodia’s Foreign Policy towards China and the West

As the US-China trade war appears to be further escalating, Cambodia should rethink its foreign policy towards China and the West. While Cambodia’s ties with China have substantially improved with time, its relations with the West have reached a new low in the last few years. Its fluctuating relationship with the United States seems to be less amicable, if not worse.

Cambodia between China and the United States

Capriciously, China appears to shift its policy towards Hun Sen and the Cambodian People’s Party in the wake of Phnom Penh tussle on July 5 and 6, 1997. At a short notice, Cambodia under the leadership of Hun Sen discernibly has burgeoned relations with Beijing emphatically. Some even suggest this bilateral relation has reached its peak in the last few years. Concurrently, the relations between Phnom Penh and Washington remain strained, despite strenuous efforts aimed for diplomatic revitalization since the mid1990s. It is perceptible that Cambodia has undertaken foreign policy that apparently takes side with Beijing, rather than the Washington between 1997 and 2013. While economic interests have been attributed to this move, this paper aims to explore motivations that exhort Cambodia to be more supportive to China, rather than the United States during the unfolded period. The findings of the thesis postulates that five catalysts serve as the motivating forces, including the personality perception, and background of the Prime Minister Hun Sen, the influences of the bureaucrats and Cambodian interests groups, Cambodia’s contexts between 1997 and 2013, different intensities of economic interdependence and exchange visits between Cambodia and the two countries.

The Political Economy of Cambodia's Transition 1991-2001

2003

This book explores the three continuing, intertwined transitions which have taken place in Cambodia since the late 1980s - the transition from command economy to free market, from civil war to peace, and from single-party authoritarianism to multiparty democracy. Using a political economy approach and drawing on extensive original research, the book argues that the first transition, to the free market, has been particularly important in determining the character of the other transition processes. The reorientation of the state on the basis of personal netowrks of political loyalty and economi entrepreneurship, backed by the threat of violence, permitted the emergence of a limited political accommodation between the major parties in the 1990s, which provided few benefits to Cambodia's poor. The book goes on to show how the interaction between local, state, transnational and international networks has provided different opportuniteis for local participation and empowerment in rural and urban areas, and suggests that the roots of a future Cambodian democracy lie in this local activity, rather than primarily in elite or international policies for state transformation.