“Cambodia sees America as a sort of guarantor of its own sovereignty facing the threat from Thailand, and America sees Cambodia may shift its position,” said Pou Sothirak, distinguished senior adviser at the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies and Phnom Penh’s former ambassador to Japan.“This also fits into [Trump’s] containment policy of China,” he added.A graduate of West Point Military Academy and a UK-educated economist, Hun Manet has engaged with the west far more than his father did. In recent weeks, the US has lifted an arms embargo on Cambodia imposed in 2021 and agreed to resume joint military exercises suspended nearly a decade ago.“There’s new thinking in Washington DC… and Hun Manet understands the importance of the US in the regional context,” said Sothirak.
