Observation on the Evolution of Contemporary Cambodia
“Observation on the Evolution of Contemporary Cambodia” is a compilation of articles that Mr. Sim Vireak have written in the last 10 years. His motivation of writing derived from the thirst to read publications and receive fair assessment about contemporary Cambodia beyond the limited stock of topics such as the Khmer Rouge and genocide. Most of the stories about Cambodia are written by outsiders and are often based on externally framed paradigms from advanced countries. Those stories mostly ignore the fact that Cambodia is among the few post-conflict nations that did not fall back into civil war; a post-conflict nation that can turn itself into an active contributor of deminers and peacekeepers under the UN, and a post-conflict nation that can transform into one of the great achievers of sustainable development, poverty reduction, and peaceful democratization. The book offers a glimpse of his exercise of self-questioning on Cambodian values and Cambodia’s journey as a post-conflict nation in chronological order, reflecting the key social events Cambodia was facing at the time of writing.