Abstract

The end of Khmer Rouge brutal regime at the earlier 1979 resurrected the hope of the Cambodian people to live in peace and prosperity but this dream has quickly been destroyed for more than a decade because of the civil war at the Khmer Thai border.

At the time, Cambodia had two governments, one was the People’s Republic of Kampuchea / the State of Cambodia backed by the Vietnamese and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) governments, and its allies and another was the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea backed by ASEAN, the United States of America (USA), China and its allies. The division between the two power blocs, the USA and the USSR, and between ASEAN and the two Kampuchean governments have provoked conflicting and cooperating relations among them. So based on this world and regional evolutions of events, it has been important to do research on Cambodia-ASEAN Relations 1979-1991, from conflict towards cooperations.

This thesis focuses on the conflict and cooperation between countries in Indochina, especially Kampuchea (Cambodia) and ASEAN countries with the emphasis on the internal conflicts, political and economic instabilities, and ideological differences among them. And also it identifies on the roles of ASEAN, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, in the mediating the Cambodian factions to seek rebuilding peace and stability in the region.

Institution: Royal Academy of Cambodia

Supervisor: Mr. Ros Chantrabot (Ph.D)

Degree: Master of Political Science

Year: 2002