Abstract
Both Cambodia and Vietnam have experienced colonial rule, foreign military intervention, and domestic strife. Since gaining independence their elites have been strong upholders of the five principles of peaceful coexistence including respect for national sovereignty and nonintervention in the internal affairs of other states. Both states are willing to make small contributions to traditional United Nations (UN)-approved peacekeeping missions; but there is no public evidence that either state is considering expanding their involvement beyond traditional UN peacekeeping operations (PKO).
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Notes
For an assessment of UNTAC, see Carlyle A. Thayer, “The UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia,” in Ramesh Thakur and Carlyle A. Thayer (eds.), A Crisis of Expectations: UN Peacekeeping in the 1990s (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995), pp. 121–40;
Carlyle A. Thayer, “The UN in Cambodia: A Critical Overview,” in Viberto Selochan and Carlyle A. Thayer (eds.), Bringing Democracy to Cambodia (Canberra: Australian Defence Studies Centre, 1996), pp. 27–136;
and Carlyle A. Thayer, “The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia: The Restoration of Sovereignty,” in Tom Woodhouse, Robert Bruce, and Malcolm Dando (eds.), Peacekeeping and Peacemaking: Towards Effective Intervention in Post-Cold War Conflicts (London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1998), pp. 145–65.
Irwin Loy, “Cambodian Deminers Now Train Others,” Global Information Network, October 26, 2010.
Quoted in Michael D. Ryan, “Affecting Reform: Explaining the Kingdom of Cambodia’s Contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Comparative Context,” MA Thesis, US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, September 2011, pp. 42–43. For a critical appraisal consult “The Case of Cambodia,” The Role of the Military in Mine Action (Geneva: Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, June 2003), pp. 57–70.
Kingdom of Cambodia, Defending the Kingdom of Cambodia 2006: Security, Development and International Cooperation Defense Policy of the Kingdom of Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Ministry of National Defense, 2006), pp. 35–36.
“Cambodia to Send Soldiers to Chad, Central Africa for UN Peacekeeping Mission” (see note 7); International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2009 (London: Routledge, 2009), p. 318, reports 136 RCAF personnel including 7 military observers and 1 demining company;
Bronwyn Sloan, “Life for a Cambodian Peacekeeper in Sudan,” Expat Advisory Services, April 17, 2009; “Cambodia to Send Fresh Soldiers for De-Mining Operation,” Sudan Tribune, May 22, 2009;
Taing Sarada, “Cambodia to Send Peacekeepers to Chad,” Voice of America in Khmer, October 7, 2009; “94 Cambodian Deminers, Military Police Return Home from Africa,” People’s Daily, June 22, 2010; “Cambodia to Send 200 Military Engineers, De-Miners to Lebanon in October,” Xinhua, July 18, 2010; “The UN Resident Coordinator—Speech at the Departure of Cambodian Troops to join un Mission in Lebanon.”
United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad, Press Release MINURCAT/PR/11/2009, “Cambodian Troops Arrive in Chad to Participate in UN Mission,” November 19, 2009;
and Agence France-Presse, “U.N. Peacekeepers from Cambodia Arrive in Chad,” The China Post, November 21, 2009.
Mely Caballero-Anthony and Holly Haywood, Defining ASEAN’s Role in Peace Operations: Helping to Bring Peacebuilding “‘Upstream’”?, Civil-Military Working Papers 3/2010 (Canberra: Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence, 2010), p. 10.
Kingdom of Cambodia, Defense Strategic Review 2002 (Phnom Penh: Ministry of National Defense, 2002), 7.
Carlyle A. Thayer, “Cambodia: The Cambodian People’s Party Consolidates Power,” in Daljit Singh (ed.), Southeast Asian Affairs 2009 (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009), pp. 85–101.
Ryan, “Affecting Reform,” 42; the quote within the quote is from Arturo Sotomayor Velazquez, “Why Some States Participate in UN Peace Missions While Others Do Not: An Analysis of Civil-Military Relations and Its Effects on Latin America’s Contributions to Peacekeeping Operations,” Security Studies, Vol. 19 (2010): 177.
Carlyle A. Thayer, “US Rapprochement with Laos and Cambodia,” Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 32, No. 3 (2010): 453–55.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam National Defence (Hanoi: Ministry of National Defence, 2009), p. 27.
Associated Press, “Vietnam Says It Will Be Ready to Participate in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations,” February 27, 2013.
“UN Chief Pledges to Help Hanoi’s Development Efforts,” Business Times, April 13, 1993; and Associated Press/Agence France-Presse, “UN Chief Offers Broad Assistance to Vietnam,” The Nation, April 13, 1993.
Quoted in Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam and UN Peacekeeping,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, January 12, 2006. Emphasis added.
Agence France-Presse, “Vietnam Mulls Contribution to UN Peacekeeping,” Thanh Nien News, January 6, 2006. See also “VN May Join UN Peace-Keeping Forces: Ministry” Viet Nam News, January 7, 2006
and Vietnam News Agency, “Vietnam to Run for UN Security Council Membership,” Nhan Dan, January 10, 2006.
Agence France Presse, “Vietnam Mulls Participation in UN Peacekeeping Force,” January 6, 2006
and Christine Webster interview with Carlyle Thayer, “Vietnam: Interest grow in UN Peacekeeping Operations,” ABC Radio, Asia Pacific, January 11, 2006.
Vietnam News Agency, “Nation Steps Closer to UN Security Council Inclusion,” VietNamNet Bridge, October 30, 2006;
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, “Vietnam to Be Nominated to UN Security Council, State Media Says,” October 30, 2006. Vietnam’s’ interest in becoming a nonpermanent member of the Security Council dates back to 1997.
The report appeared in Calitoday, January 5, 2007, available at: www.baocalitoday.com/; see Vietnam News Agency, “Spokesman Responds to East Sea Claims,” Sai Gon Giai Phong English Edition, January 9, 2007.
Vietnam News Agency, “State President Triet meets with UN General Secretary,” Nhan Dan, June 21, 2007.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam: Consolidating National Defence Safeguarding the Homeland (Hanoi: Ministry of Defence, 1998), pp. 67–69.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam’s National Defense in the Early Years of the 21st Century (Hanoi: Ministry of Defense, 2004), pp. 69–72.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam National Defence (Hanoi: Ministry of National Defence, 2009), p. 27.
Mark E. Manyin, U.S-Vietnam Relations: Background and Issues for Congress, CRS Report for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, October 31, 2008), p. 3.
William R. Goodwin, “Workshop Focuses on UN Peacekeeping Options, Challenges,” April 10, 2009, available at: www.apcss.org/workshop-focuses-on-un-peaekeeping-optons-challenges/.
Robert Karniol, “Vietnam’s Dual-Track Defence Strategy,” The Straits Times, September 26, 2011. The other areas of cooperation included maritime security, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief.
Vietnam News Agency, “Mine Clearance Committee Delegation Visits US,” Tuoi Tre News, July 14, 2012.
Xuan Linh, “Defense Minister Talks about His American Counterpart’s Upcoming Visit,” VietNamNet, May 26, 2012.
Vietnam News Agency, “Mine Clearance Committee Delegation Visits US,” Tuoi Tre News, July 14, 2012.
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© 2014 Chiyuki Aoi and Yee-Kuang Heng
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Thayer, C.A. (2014). The Contrasting Cases of Cambodia and Vietnam: Active Engagement and Considering Engagement in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. In: Aoi, C., Heng, YK. (eds) Asia-Pacific Nations in International Peace Support and Stability Operations. Asia Today. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137366955_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137366955_9
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