On 3-4 February 2026, CCRS team, Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor and Him Rotha, Deputy Director made a presentation on “Cambodia’s Perspective on ASEAN: From Domestic Imperatives to Growing Regional Responsibilities” at the Pok Rafeah Chair’s Book Workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
This presentation is part of the discussion for the book project on “ASEAN from National Lenses: Weaving Consensus from Competing Voices,” to be edited by Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar, the 8th Pok Rafeah Chairholder at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, National University of Malaysia (IKMAS UKM) and Research Professor at the Research Centre for Politics-National Research and Innovation Agency (PRP-BRIN), Indonesia; Professor Kamarulnizam Abdullah, Professor and Principal Fellow, IKMAS; and Andika Priyandana Sunoko PhD student, IKMAS.
Amb. Pou and Mr. Him made a case on how Cambodia’s domestic imperatives and external trajectories have shaped the Kingdom’s approach towards ASEAN. They also discussed Cambodia’s engagement with ASEAN through the three pillars as well as the Kingdom’s views towards ASEAN mechanisms with the key case examples on the principle of non-interference; the ASEAN Charter and consensus decision-making mechanism; and ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanisms. Moreover, Cambodia’s relations with the regional grouping in the lens of external pressures driven by the geopolitical competition as well as the future trajectories towards the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 were also brough up during their talks.
Amb. Pou and Mr. Him took part in the lively debates and discussions during the one and half day worshop. The book is expected to be published in 2027, by a well-known Springer publishing house.
