Asia & Pacific

Cambodia

Key Points U.S. political intrigue and bombing campaigns played a major role in destabilizing Cambodia between 1969 and 1975. Between 1.5 and 2 million people were killed in the Khmer Rouge genocide from 1975-79. The extra-constitutional seizure of power by the second prime minister Hun Sen in July 1997 threatens to reverse Cambodia’s progress.

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Asia/Pacific Overview

For the cold war generation, U.S. foreign policy toward the Asia/Pacific region was simple, straightforward, and secure. In the minds of America’s foreign policy and defense elites, the only point of reference that mattered was the Soviet Union; everything else flowed from there. That proved true whether Washington was taking sides in the long-standing dispute between India and Pakistan, warming to China, or reacting to Japan’s growing trade imbalance. It was true whether the U.S. was dealing with any of the three subregions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia.

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