Q&A on Cambodia with Sophal Ear (Joshua Kurlantzick, CFR)

Last week, I spoke via email with Sophal Ear, Associate Professor of Diplomacy & World Affairs at Occidental College, and author of Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy, about the current crisis in Cambodian politics. After a brief truce following elections in 2013, in which the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) shocked the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) by nearly winning control of the National Assembly, any semblance of détente has broken down. One opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, remains in exile; if he returns home he could face charges of defamation. Another opposition leader, Kem Sokha, has been holed up in the CNRP’s headquarters for weeks. If he comes out, he faces charges of “procurement of prostitution.” A prominent government critic, Kem Ley, was gunned to death in broad daylight one morning two weeks ago, raising fears that, in the run up to national elections in 2018, the country may be returning to the violent politics of the 1990s and early 2000s, when many opposition, politicians, activists, and journalists were killed. I asked Prof. Ear for his insights about the current crisis.

http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2016/07/25/qa-on-cambodia-with-sophal-ear/