Cambodia’s Political Transition - Sophal Ear

In this episode, Dr William Choong, Managing Editor of Fulcrum, and Dr Jayant Menon, Senior Fellow at ISEAS, talk to Prof Sophal Ear, Associate Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, about the political transition in Cambodia. Prof Ear lectures on global political economy, international organisations, and regional management in Asia. He wrote and narrated the award-winning documentary film “The End/ Beginning: Cambodia” based on his 2009 TED Talk and has appeared in five other documentaries. A graduate of Princeton and Berkeley, he moved to the U.S. from France as a Cambodian refugee at the age of 10. Dialogues at Fulcrum is a podcast published by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. The interview took place on 13 September 2023. Fulcrum: https://fulcrum.sg 00:00 Intro 2:34 Reflections on the historic political transition from long-serving Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen to his son, Hun Manet 9:55 Will fairly widespread instances of dynastic succession in Cambodia constitute a concern? 15:46 Will Cambodia become a more inclusive society under Hun Manet? 23:57 The direction of Cambodia-China relations going forward 31:30 Cambodia’s astute handling of its role as ASEAN Chair in 2022 35:40 Will there be changes in Cambodia’s economic policy? 49:38 The implications of the Ream naval base