Cambodian Democracy Makes Its Last Gasps
An indifferent United States and assertive China have emboldened one of Asia’s longest-serving leaders to embrace outright authoritarianism.
Welcome to the Post-Human Rights World
Geopolitical realignments and the rise of populist nationalism have unleashed a global backlash against human rights.
Pankaj Mishra on the Violent Transition to Modernity
At the center of gravity shifts east, Pankaj Mishra argues that the West’s own fateful experience of modernity is playing out globally
Power and Democracy
The late historian Benedict Anderson once reflected that voting was a peculiar form of political action.
Reading Burma
On four new books that complicate the international image of Burma’s emergence from a half-century of military rule.
Dictators Everywhere Are Stumping for Trump
From Cambodia to Zimbabwe to North Korea, the Republican nominee has cornered the authoritarian autocrat demographic.
In Cambodia, everything is different but nothing has changed
As is usual at this point in the electoral cycle, the Cambodian government is clamping down hard on its opponents.
The King Is Dead. Is Thailand’s Monarchy Next?
Thailand’s revered king held the country together for more than 70 years. But his son’s succession could threaten everything he built.
‘Meet Kill’
When Kem Ley’s murderer was asked for his name, he offered a chilling sobriquet: ‘Chuob Samlap’ – literally, ‘Meet Kill.’
Crony In the Forest
On Google Maps the Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Cambodia is marked by a patch of theoretical green, like each of the country’s 32 national parks and protected areas.
The ‘lawless’ playgrounds of Laos
A Chinese gambling enclave in a remote part of Laos has become a ‘semi-lawless’ zone where gambling, prostitution, and illicit trades flourish.
Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless
The family of Cambodian dictator Hun Sen sits on at least $200 million. But it might not save them from populist anger.
