Forgiving the Killing Fields

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how foreign politics triumphed over law in judging genocide in Cambodia. The author feels that foreign influences on Cambodia is the most plausible explanation of why Cambodia became embarked on a path of terror, and how political imperatives continued to outweigh the need to punish genocide. The author looks at Cambodia's history, from when they were a great power in the region, and continues to show how they subsequently became threatened by foreign nations which brought with it centuries of decline in both political, economic and military power. The role that the Cold War played in Cambodian politics, both internal and international is also examined in detail, as are the policies adopted by the Khmer Rouge during the 1980s in an attempt to soften its image in the western world.

From the Paper:

"While the world had offered aid to the Khmer Rouge regime when it occupied Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge refused consistent with its policy of self-reliance, when Vietnam occupied Cambodia, the West refused to provide aid at all leaving only Vietnam and USSR to provide humanitarian aid to avert famine. When aid was finally provided, Western nations only provided it to refugee camps along the Western border with Thailand, territory which was also home to Khmer Rouge guerrilla fighters, to ensure that at least some of the aid went to the Khmer Rouge and their supporters. With the support of the West, the UN voted to continue to recognize the Khmer Rouge regime and offer them a seat at the UN in lieu of the Vietnamese-backed government, which controlled the capital and the vast majority of the country."

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