Cambodia

In the late 20th Century, many commentators assumed that communism and autocracy in general were destined to fade away as the citizens of developing countries became increasingly prosperous and educated and gradually came to accept liberal democracy as the eventual form of government. However, recent democratic backsliding globally has generated interest in analyzing the persistence of authoritarianism in some states. Commentators have also begun to try to identify factors influencing these regimes’ form and longevity. In this paper, I analyze and compare the historical, cultural, and institutional factors which have shaped the Vietnamese and Cambodian communist regimes into the present day, with particular attention to state-society relations and the various ways in which the regime has sought to supplant and/or co-opt existing social and cultural institutions. I argue that the ideological co-optation of institutions has been much more complete and longer lasting in Vietnam.

While South Korea is stepping towards LGBTQ+ rights, the WHO is concerned about the potential interhuman transmission of avian flu according to Cambodian cases. Japan's PM reasserts support to Ukraine with $5.5B in aid. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, the dismemberment of model Abby Choi reflects economic issues in this giant skyscraper city.

In this month's news article, we present the North Korean leader revealing his daughter to the world, a deadly earthquake of 5.6 magnitudes in West Java of Indonesia, one of the drivers of the protests against the zero-COVID policy in China, and the ASEAN Summit hosted in Cambodia.

Last month's updates: South Korea faced the worst crowd crush in Itaewon Halloween festival, while a life sentence was imposed on the Cambodian opposition leader.

This month news review, features Japans preparation for the upcoming elections, ongoing conflict in Myanmar, economic turmoil in China, a new government in Malaysia, as well as the appeal of one of the last Khmer Rouge leaders