Hun Sen


Cambodia  / Indo-Pacific  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
Need for ASEAN Reform has Never been Greater
Posted On November 4, 2022
ASEAN burst into life in 1967 with the creation of the Bangkok Declaration, which detailed the aims of the organization, to promote economic, social, cultural, and educational cooperation as well as regional peace and stability through an assemblance of justice, the rule of law, and the principles of the UN Charter. In a very real sense, for a region racked by conflict and strife at the time, the creation of ASEAN was a message of unity. However, the message of harmony expressed more than 55 years ago has been replaced by an unhealthy clash of state interests, indecisiveness, and institutional paralysis—particularly in the shadow of a regional crisis.
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Cambodia  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia
Hun Sen Has Botched Cambodia’s ASEAN Chairmanship
October 31, 2022

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s time as the ASEAN chair is running out. In a way, 2022 has been much like the previous year–particularly in the maddening context of Myanmar, where Brunei, the previous chair stumbled to the finish line after largely failed diplomacy after the February 2021 coup. In other ways, Brunei’s shepherding of the ill-fated Five-Point Consensus (FPC) and the creation of the ASEAN Special Envoy wasn’t Cambodia’s fault; Hun Sen inherited the mess. And the Security Council, already negligent on its normative duties, punted to ASEAN as early as March of 2021. Even if Hun Sen relished the international spotlight, Cambodia wasn’t exactly ready to shine. While most ASEAN states were leaning toward condemnation of the coup and essentially blocked Myanmar’s presence at the ASEAN Summit in October 2021, Hun Sen tried to bring the military junta’s leadership back into the ASEAN circle...


Cambodia  / China  / Southeast Asia
Japan’s Recent Diplomacy in Cambodia Bears Fruit
March 24, 2022

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida must see an opportunity. In his visits, first to India and later to Cambodia, Kishida has played the role of relationship builder and norm enforcer, asking both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to heel on both demanding an end to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and asking Cambodia to support Ukrainian sovereignty as well. Tokyo’s diplomacy over the past week has put Cambodia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN this year, center stage. And it worked.


Cambodia  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Will Thailand Inspire a Cambodian Spring?
November 2, 2020

There will be no Cambodian Spring anytime soon. This is the sobering reality to a question so tempting to ask – particularly in the shadow of what’s happening in Thailand and now in Lao PDR. So, why won’t a civil society uprising happen in Cambodia soon? Since its emergence from civil war and transition back to a state of external legitimacy through the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), Cambodia’s democratic moment was fast, fleeting and has long since evaporated.


Cambodia  / Southeast Asia
Land Rights in Cambodia and the Long Persecution of a Buddhist Monk
October 5, 2020

During a speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council on October 2, Luon Sovath, a Buddhist monk and human rights activist was repeatedly interrupted by Cambodia’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, An Sokkhoeurn, who questioned the legitimacy of both Sovath’s status as a monk and his claims about land rights in Cambodia. During a meeting of the 45th Regular Session of the Council, Sovath was a guest speaker of the World Organization Against Torture, a Geneva-based NGO.


Cambodia
What’s Behind the Recent Arrests of Cambodian Activists?
September 18, 2020

A string of recent arrests of activists by Cambodian authorities has human rights groups and the United Nations calling for restraint and the right to free expression. The conviction of a former official in the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was the latest in a long series of convictions or detentions.


Cambodia
What to Expect After Cambodia’s EBA Suspension
February 14, 2020

After more than a year of discussion, the European Union decided to suspend Cambodia’s trade privileges under the “Everything But Arms” (EBA) scheme. The EU suspension is scheduled to affect more than 20 percent of Cambodia’s exports to Europe, or approximately $1.1 billion in exports every year.


Cambodia
Three Takeaways From Sam Rainsy’s Attempt to Return to Cambodia
November 10, 2019

Cambodia’s Sam Rainsy, the self-exiled opposition leader landed in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, vowing to return home to lead an uprising against his country’s long-serving Prime Minister and former Khmer Rouge officer Hun Sen.


Cambodia
Sanctions Might Not Bring the Political Change the West Wants in Cambodia
June 11, 2019

Cambodia’s economic growth remains under threat, as the European Union (EU) begins the process of removing the country from the Everything-But-Arms (EBA) scheme, and more recently the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The EU’s response to Cambodia stems from the government’s turn away from democratization that dates back prior to the 2018 general elections.


Cambodia
Hun Sen Fears Civil Society Revolt in Cambodia
January 27, 2019

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen repeatedly lashed out at opponents last week in an attempt to respond to critics or potential rivals that could upend him in a coup d’etat.