Diplomatic Briefing: New Decade, Old Challenges?

Diplomatic Briefing Ausgabe 01/2020

The Diplomatic Briefing is a biannual collection of categorized opinion pieces and short articles from an extended network of the scholarly community and regional experts, covering a wide range of issues from international relations, to sub-regional affairs, to foreign policy, to economic and trade, and beyond.

von Robert Hör, Pich Charadine, Vireak Sim, Sothirak Pou, Phea Kin, Bradley J. Murg, Daniel Schmücking

Covid-19 remains the dominant topic of discussion and issue of concern for the Cambodian society and the world at large. The consequences also affect people from all walk of life, especially the vulnerable groups and young people in Cambodia. Home schooling has become a routine; universities and some other areas have been ordered to be closed for an unforeseeable time. That is why we asked Politikoffee, a network of young and socially-enthusiastic people, to share their view of the crisis through focus group discussion. In three questions, the following are their snapshot.

H.E. Sim Vireak shares the Royal Government of Cambodia’s perspective on the country’s future engagement with ASEAN — one key topic in the next decade. H.E. Sim Vireak outlines Cambodia’s key strategic pillars, namely development, peace promotion and regional contributions.

von Vireak Sim

H.E. Ambassador Pou Sothirak revisits recent developments of the US-Cambodian relations and reflects on positive and negative aspects. H.E. Ambassador Pou Sothirak describes among other aspects and ideas the need of mutual respect, experimenting with new approaches and the avoidance of blaming games.

von Sothirak Pou

H.E. Dr. Kin Phea takes the reader on a journey through recent Cambodia-China relations. He describes a balancing way for Cambodia in order to find a place to benefit from China’s global engagement, including the Belt and Road Initiative, and from unilateral official development assistance, while being mindful about the transparency and the sustainability of aids and projects.

von Phea Kin

Dr. Bradley Jansen Murg discusses the rise of China, which will also shape this decade and the decades beyond. He discusses recent developments of China’s global strategy, the stagnation of Beijing’s domestic politics and the economy.

von Bradley J. Murg

Dr. Daniel Schmücking shares his perspective on the rationales behind the E.U.’s decision to partially withdraw Cambodia’s Everything but Arms (EBA) status. The case is of high interest because it was the first time in the history of the EBA mechanism that it was partially withdrawn, but even more important it reveals shortcoming on both sides, the Cambodia and European.

von Daniel Schmücking

Ms. Pich Charadine outlines here opinion of what shall come in this decade. According to Ms. Pich Charadine, amid all challenges Cambodia will face, one priority still remains the diversification of Cambodia’s foreign policy instruments covering a wide range from trade, investment to strategic and military cooperation.

von Pich Charadine

The EBA trade preferences have been an economic boost for Cambodia and have fueled the exports to the European market. However, the European Union announced in 2019 that it would launch a EBA withdrawal procedure due to the erosion of democracy and human rights violation in Cambodia. In the interview we speak with Dr. Cheunboran Chanborey, Advisor to the Asian Vision Institute, and Dr. Daniel Schmücking, Country Director of KAS Cambodia about the case, its context and next steps.