Cambodia underwent a triple transition in the 1990s: from war to peace, from communism to electoral democracy, and from command economy to free market. This book addresses the political economy of these transitions, examining how the much publicised international intervention to bring peace and democracy to Cambodia was subverted by the poverty of the Cambodian economy and by the state's manipulation of the move to the free market. This analysis of the material basis of obstacles to Cambodia's democratisation suggests that the long-established theoretical link between economy and democracy stands, even in the face of new strategies of international democracy promotion.
The Political Economy of the Cambodian Transition
Biography
Caroline Hughes is Leverhulme Trust Special Research Fellow at the School of Politics, University of Nottingham.
'The book is a valuable contribution to the study of the "new Cambodia", in its hopes, fears, and dilemmas as it emerges cautiously from the ashes of its turbulent past.' - Contemporary Southeast Asia
