This important study of the shifting diplomatic efforts around the response to and resolution of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia is based on the records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, a key player in the complex diplomacy in the region at the end of the Cold War. The study provides a detailed account of the policies and decision-making of Singapore, as well as the diplomatic maneuverings of the other major parties and powers involved in the Cambodia conflict. It details one member country's input into the process of defining and developing a collective ASEAN position, a process which was formative for future diplomatic efforts by the regional grouping. Ang makes use of a variety of sources contemporary to the period under study, as well as records which have become available post-1991. The use of detailed records from one of the Southeast Asian players is a first for the study of the region's diplomacy. The book describes Singapore's role and illustrate how Singapore's management of the Cambodian issue was shaped by the fundamentals of Singapore's foreign policy. The account also reveals the dynamics of intra-ASEAN relations, as well as ASEAN's foreign relations in the context of the Cambodia problem.

This book explores the tensions within Cambodia’s foreign policy between a tight alignment with China, on the one hand, and Cambodia’s commitment to the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as its delicate foreign policy diversification towards other major powers, on the other hand. It traces the long history of Cambodia’s quest for survival from its bigger and historically antagonistic neighbours – the Thai and the Vietnamese – and its struggle for security and independence from the two neighbours and external major powers, particularly the United States and China. It discusses Cambodia’s geopolitical predicaments deriving from its location of being sandwiched between powerful neighbours and limited strategic options available for the Kingdom. The book also assesses recent developments in Cambodia’s relations with its neighbours and their implications for Cambodia’s increasingly tight alignment with China in recent years. It considers the extent to which the ruling regime in Cambodia depends on strong relations with China for its legitimacy and survival and argues that there are risks and danger for Cambodia in moving towards an increasingly tight alignment with China.

"This investigation into the Cambodian question provides an in-depth study and critical analysis of Indonesia's diplomatic involvement in the Cambodian peace process. It traces the Cambodian problem to Vietnam's military intervention and the consequent installation of the People's Republic of Kampuchea in 1979, as well as examining ASEAN's perception of a security threat and recognition of Indonesia's potential to play the 'interlocutor' thanks to its rapport with the Khmer factions. It also explores the international community's growing interest in solving the problem coupled with the Paris International Conference on Cambodia and Indonesia's perseverance in the resolution which resulted in Indonesia winning the title of an 'honest peace broker'. The text will prove invaluable for readers of international relations, politics and conflict studies, and would also benefit those following Southeast Asian studies."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved