On February 23rd the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation hosted a virtual conversation on communist Cambodia with Dr. Bradley J. Murg. This event is part of our Communism and the World series. You can access other events in this series here.
In 1979, after four years of radical Maoism and genocide under Pol Pot that left over 1.5 million people dead, the Khmer Rouge regime was finally overthrown following an invasion by neighboring Vietnam. Cambodia subsequently spent a decade under Hanoi’s occupation and saw continued internal conflict until the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements in 2021. In this webinar, Dr. Bradley J. Murg examines the politics and ideology of the Khmer Rouge; their period in power from 1975-1979; and the historical legacies of both the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese-occupation periods that continue to impact the country today. While Cambodia has emerged as one of Asia’s fastest growing economies in recent years, its history continues to weigh heavily on the development of its institutions and system of governance, often more similar to post-Soviet states that the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors. Finally, Dr. Murg will discuss the unique role that Cambodia plays at present as a major center of both Chinese influence and Sino-American competition in the region.
