Sihanouk
Sihanouk

Author: Milton Osborne

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1994-03-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9780824816391

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In 1941 Norodom Sihanouk ascended the Cambodian throne, supported by the French with the intent that he be their puppet king. Milton Osborne traces the complete background leading to this event, and then follows Sihanouk's remarkable growth to political maturity: his transformation from a dilettante king to a vigorous and sometimes ruthless politician. Fully acknowledging his remarkable energy, the book shows how the early years of Sihanouk's successes turned sour as, unwilling to share responsibility, he gradually alienated politicians on both the left and the right. Convinced that he alone knew what was best for Cambodia, his repression of dissent became more vicious and led finally to his overthrow in 1970.

Britain and Sihanouk's Cambodia
Britain and Sihanouk's Cambodia

Author: Nicholas Tarling

Publisher: NUS Press

Published: 2014-07-01

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 9971697076

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Diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Britain at the height of the Cold War provide unique insights into the overall foreign policies of both nations. King Norodom Sihanouk's strategy of preserving the independence and integrity of Cambodia through a policy of neutrality grew ever more challenging as the Cold War heated up in Indochina and conflict in Vietnam became a proxy war between the superpowers. Despite its alliance with the United States, Britain's diplomatic objectives in the region largely aligned with Cambodia's, and British criticism of US policy towards Cambodia was a problem in the alliance. British diplomatic records present a fascinating window into Cambodian decision-making, and the rationale behind Sihanouk's sometimes apparently irrational policies. The reports yield new insights into Sihanouk's efforts to sustain Cambodia's integrity vis-ˆ-vis its more powerful neighbours. Equally, a fine-grained analysis of British-Cambodia relations reveals much about the dynamics of British foreign policy in the period. Britain's ultimate dependence on its powerful American ally limited its influence in the region. After 1967, indeed, it ceased to have a strategic role. Over the period, British frustrations grew, even as it remained consistent in its foreign policy objectives and approaches.

The Tragedy of Cambodian History
The Tragedy of Cambodian History

Author: David Porter Chandler

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1991-01-01

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9780300057522

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The political history of Cambodia between 1945 and 1979, which culminated in the devastating revolutionary excesses of the Pol Pot regime, is one of unrest and misery. This book by David P. Chandler is the first to give a full account of this tumultuous period. Drawing on his experience as a foreign service officer in Phnom Penh, on interviews, and on archival material. Chandler considers why the revolution happened and how it was related to Cambodia's earlier history and to other events in Southeast Asia. He describes Cambodia's brief spell of independence from Japan after the end of World War II; the long and complicated rule of Norodom Sihanouk, during which the Vietnam War gradually spilled over Cambodia's borders; the bloodless coup of 1970 that deposed Sihanouk and put in power the feeble, pro-American government of Lon Nol; and the revolution in 1975 that ushered in the radical changes and horrors of Pol Pot's Communist regime. Chandler discusses how Pol Pot and his colleagues evacuated Cambodia's cities and towns, transformed its seven million people into an unpaid labor force, tortured and killed party members when agricultural quotas were unmet, and were finally overthrown in the course of a Vietnamese military invasion in 1979. His book is a penetrating and poignant analysis of this fierce revolutionary period and the events of the previous quarter-century that made it possible.

Khmer Nationalist
Khmer Nationalist

Author: Matthew Jagel

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2023-05-15

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1501769359

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Khmer Nationalist is a political history of Cambodia from World War II until 1975, examining the central role of Sõn Ngc Thành. It is a story of nationalistic independence movements, political intrigue, coup attempts, war, and American intelligence. The rise of Cambodian nationalism, the brief period of Japanese dominance, the fight for independence from France, and the establishment of ties with the United States that kept Sihanouk on edge until his downfall—in all of these, as Matthew Jagel shows, Thành was fundamental. Khmer Nationalist reveals how Cambodian nationalism grew during the twilight of French colonialism and faced new geopolitical challenges during the Cold War. Thành's story brings greater understanding to the end of French colonialism in Cambodia, nationalism in post-colonial societies, Cold War realities for countries caught between competing powers, and how the United States responded while the Vietnam War intensified.

The Changing Face of Southeast Asia
The Changing Face of Southeast Asia

Author: Amry Vandenbosch

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-10-21

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 0813186722

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Southeast Asia, whose alienation might tilt the balance of power in favor of the Communist bloc, has become the focus of American foreign policy. Amry Vandenbosch and Richard Butwell here trace the development of the eight nations which comprise Southeast Asia and appraise their current role in international affairs. Although led to adopt state forms similar to those of the departing colonial powers, each nation traditionally had quite different political systems. It is the authors' thesis that their historical patterns of political and social behavior are re-emerging and that the chief differences among the national political systems and related ways of life can largely be explained in these terms. They feel that the main changes in Southeast Asia in the past two decades reflect the peculiar wedding of such historical considerations and the worldwide forces of democracy, communism, and economic development. Southeast Asia, the authors hold, can be viewed as a single collective political entity, for no country is free from direct or indirect influence from its neighbors and this interaction is increasing in quantity and intensity. The pattern of political development, the authors assert, is much colored by national variations of common occurrences, but paradoxically Southeast Asia has never meant more in terms of an interdependent unit historically than it does today.

Cambodia, a Shattered Society
Cambodia, a Shattered Society

Author: Marie Alexandrine Martin

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9780520070523

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Drawing from 25 years of research and travel in Cambodia, the French anthropologist Marie Alexandrine Martin provides a new perspective on the Khmer Rouge's rise to power and the Vietnamese occupation of the country.