29 Apr 2025
Cambodia recalibrates its China policy, rather than realigns
In a world defined by competing powers, Cambodia pursues its own agency.
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6 Mar 2025
Missed signals: What Southeast Asia wants vs what Australia delivers
With US aid disappearing, a new report shows Australia has a chance to align development cooperation with the region’s challenges and Australia’s strengths. -
5 Dec 2024
Location, location, location: Why Ream Naval Base is not the real estate China needed
Artificial islands in the South China Sea have more strategic value than a backwater base. -
5 Dec 2024
The murky waters of Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal
A 180-kilometre waterway to criss-cross the country, but who pays? -
4 Nov 2024
ASEAN countries confront Chinese export glut
Left unchecked, a saturation of Chinese goods may complicate what has otherwise been a very compelling ASEAN growth story. -
1 Nov 2024
Lost in translation: China’s elite-centric approach in Cambodia
Walking the talk will be needed to prove to young Cambodians that the relationship is about partnership rather than pure profit. -
16 Oct 2024
Caught between giants: Why Cambodia looks to Australia
With Phnom Penh aiming to diversify its strategic options, Canberra seems like a good bet. -
9 Sep 2024
China’s rise in Southeast Asia is bringing in a golden age for Australia
Disquiet about Beijing’s growing presence is motivating countries across the region to seek deeper cooperation with Canberra. -
29 May 2024
Water woes: Cambodia and Vietnam clash over the Funan Techo Canal
Environmental, economic and geopolitical concerns are all bound up in the latest tensions along the Mekong River. -
14 May 2024
Dams, salt, and the sad fate of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
Freshwater depletion and salinisation have become critical issues, while nationalism impedes cooperation. -
22 Feb 2024
Can Vietnam and Cambodia build a lasting peace?
Haunted by history, the two nations must go beyond official narratives for true reconciliation. -
13 Feb 2024
ASEAN summit a chance for Australia to reach out to mainland Southeast Asia
Melbourne gathering is a unique chance for Australia to relate to Cambodia, Laos and Thailand in ways that do not depend on geopolitical alignment. -
18 Sep 2023
Testimonial therapy: Buddhism’s influence in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge tribunal
Faith-based interventions and criminal prosecutions can innovatively meet. -
29 Aug 2023
Cambodia, Thailand and dealing with China: The more things change…
New prime ministers might be in the job, but don’t expect any big shifts in approaches to Beijing. -
22 Aug 2023
Cambodia's democracy deficit: Australia's role and responsibility
Have we done enough to support human and democratic rights in a country where they are perpetually under attack? -
27 Jul 2023
Is Hun Sen really stepping down?
After dominating Cambodia for so long, he will continue to dictate politics even after a handover to son Hun Manet. -
21 Jul 2023
Who leads the world as longest in charge of their country?
Put together a list and you can start to see a pattern. -
30 Mar 2023
Paying for a new Thai democracy
The real winners are far from clear, but Thailand’s populist, party jumping election is Asia’s vote to watch this year. -
22 Mar 2023
Enter Cambodia’s Hun Manet
Numbers tell the story of a military leader working overtime on a leadership succession game plan. -
25 Jul 2022
Taking on Cambodia’s “Lady Liberty”
An American human rights lawyer sentenced to six years in a Phnom Penh prison may cause Hun Sen no end of trouble. -
16 May 2022
Diplomacy is indispensable to manage the Mekong
The goal of a healthy river won’t be helped by misreading the shared mission of the Mekong River Commission. -
12 Apr 2022
How the Mekong River Commission ignores reality
Nothing is worth celebrating in how a once mighty wild river has been cruelly tamed. -
20 Dec 2021
Hun Sen’s all-encompassing rule of Cambodia
The strongman has anointed his son as successor – after an election, of course. -
26 Nov 2021
Trouble on the Mekong
Countries along one of Asia’s longest rivers need to address the effects of climate change and overdevelopment. -
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11 Aug 2020
Cambodia: Hard choices
Punishment for democratic backsliding might force Hun Sen’s government closer to China – but not without cost. -
11 Aug 2020
Chinese dams and the Mekong drought
The environmental impact of China’s dam building upstream is undeniable. The silence from some quarters is surprising. -
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3 Jul 2020
Southeast Asian democracies in declining health amid Covid-19
An illiberal turn across the region has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Australia should take note. -
26 Jun 2020
Hun Manet: A Cambodian dynasty?
The eldest son of Prime Minister Hun Sen is being groomed to take over, but still has to convince key political players. -
17 Jun 2020
Cambodia: Caught in the middle
As it navigates a post-Covid recovery, Cambodia needs to strike a balance between the US and China. -
12 Jun 2020
Thailand: Another dissenter disappears
A fresh abduction case raises serious questions, not for the first time, about the reach of Thai authorities. -
27 May 2020
Another pearl in China’s string?
Plans in Cambodia for a massive tourist resort on an out-of-the way island don‘t add up and may serve a different goal. -
5 Dec 2019
What I said then, what I think now: The Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Progress has been lamentably slow, but a decade on, benefits can be seen in Cambodians learning this terrible history. -
26 Nov 2019
Cambodia: Playing the long game against Hun Sen
European Union pressure is working, and revoking trade preferences might allow Cambodians to escape dynastic rule. -
5 Nov 2019
Photo essay: Phnom Penh and China-backed building boom
Towering over low shops and French colonial–era townhouses grows a new city in tribute to the politics of the present. -
24 Sep 2019
Micro-loans raise major questions in Cambodia
Studies show microfinance increasingly harming those it claims to help, while defenders cry “fake news”. -
5 Jul 2019
Cambodia: the regime’s base survival instinct on display
A decision to reject a US offer to refurbish Ream Naval Base might hint at China’s influence but also domestic concerns. -
24 May 2019
Cambodia: weak words on strongman rule
<p>Why bother to send a UN special rapporteur to the country if the democratic backsliding is all but ignored?</p> -
14 May 2019
Hun Sen’s natural bilateral “bestie”
Cambodia’s tilt to China is abundantly clear after a slew of new deals and rumours of a potential Chinese military base. -
26 Mar 2019
Taking transitional justice to Cambodia’s youth
Decades after Khmer Rouge, reparations could not be afforded to its victims. So justice is looking at Cambodia’s youth. -
8 Jan 2019
The rude health of Cambodia’s Hun Sen
Speculation about succession by Hun Sen’s eldest son is an interesting talking point – that could go on a while yet. -
29 Nov 2018
International justice: tackling impunity in Asia
Trials in Cambodia, while fraught, may help deliver accountability for crimes against humanity across the region. -
20 Nov 2018
Cambodia’s genocide verdict: better late than never
The Khmer Rouge trials reinforce the criminality of the Pol Pot regime but the glacial pace leaves much to be desired -
3 Oct 2018
Hun Sen at the UN: a strategic appearance
Cambodia’s took to the world stage in New York, with comments to dismiss critics and target an audience at home. -
7 Sep 2018
The James Ricketson trial
Watching court proceedings of a case marred by irregularities that in a country other than Cambodia might be thrown out. -
26 Jul 2018
Cambodia’s election: where the numbers lie
Strings of numbers that appear in social media comments are portentous in Cambodia’s stifled political climate. -
19 Jul 2018
What has gone wrong in Cambodia?
In 1993 the international community allowed Hun Sen to remain the dominant political force, as he still is today. -
13 Jul 2018
Why Japan is supporting Cambodia’s election
Despite Western concern the ballot will be neither free or fair, Tokyo is seeking to counter China’s influence. -
11 Jul 2018
Cambodia: dispelling the Malaysia illusion
No stunning surprises will be allowed in Hun Sen’s drive to remain as prime minister.