Citation

Miller RH. Stud. Conflict Terrorism 1995; 18(4): 317-323.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10576109508435988

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite many positive changes inside Cambodia in recent years, it remains the region's weakest spot: It is caught forever between Vietnam's slow but inexorable expansion southward and westward over the centuries, Thailand's historic instinct to play hostile neighboring elements off against each other as a means of guaranteeing its own survival, and gigantic China to the north. With Russia and the United States now over the horizon, China, Japan, and India emerge as the regional powers to conjure with. Only time will tell whether the prospering Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in fact represents a new regional force of history that can overcome the centrifugal pressures within the region and withstand the pressures of the age‐old regional powers. If the answer is positive, Cambodia may remain a regional problem within the bosom of ASEAN. But if ASEAN founders, Cambodia could once again become a threat to the peace of the region and engage the attention of the international community.

Language: en