Minutes of 9/07/02 Meeting

Beaverton, OR

Presenter and facilitator:  Professor Naranhkiri Tith;

Members:  Theoul Thuch, Mabbeskal Man, Veronica Ngi, Senghoung Man, Chhivlynne Kaing, Phala Eath; Guests:  Setthivuth Oung, Monica Oung, Jeff McCormick, Saron Khut, Helen Ngi and joined later by Sokhom Tauch.

The informal meeting started at 1:00 and lasted approximately 4 hours.  A great part of the presentation was devoted to the study of Khmer civilization prior to World War II, during Angkor era.

In analyzing the Cambodian problems, a comprehensive approach is needed to understand the history of Cambodiašs long and steady decline.  Presently, no scholarly work has been written by a Cambodian to address the Cambodian problems in an objective, analytical and comprehensive manner that brings into bearing an understanding of various interrelated disciplines such as history, anthropology, economics, international relations, political system and ideologies.  This is a tremendous task.  However, without understanding the origin of Cambodiašs decline since the Angkor period, it is difficult to understand and to find a cure for the many illnesses of the Cambodian people and nation.  This motivated Professor Tith to begin writing his planned book, ŗCambodia: Anatomy of an Endangered Nation˛. 

The imminent and external danger that faces Cambodia as a nation is its sovereignty.  Though it is still a country and a member of the United Nation, many elements classify Cambodia as a nation without freedom.  Cambodia is under the domination of Vietnam, in fact, this will have been about the sixth time that Cambodia falls under Vietnamese rule since the policy of Imperial Vietnam known as ŗNam Thien˛ or ŗSouthward March˛ to completely destroy the former Kingdom of Champa, (Annam) and to annex the Southern part of Cambodia (former French Cochinchina).  Vietnam successful propagates itself as a victim and victor of history; they are heroes and at the same time victims against foreign domination.  Cambodia, on the other hand, successfully projects itself as a most violent victimizer, not only of its own people, but also of the Vietnamese and other Asians.  This illustrates that Vietnam understands how to play the game in order to win support from the international community.

A close study of the history of both countries is crucial to understanding how Vietnam succeeded in thwarting off foreign domination by the powerful Chinese, French, Japanese, and Americans and how Cambodia repeatedly failed and continues to fail in defending its territory.  The success and failure of these respective countries in their territorial defense crucially rest in their national identity.  Vietnamšs national identity is grounded in its defense against foreign invasion; Cambodiašs national identity is grounded in Devaraja (God-King).  The former is outward looking and the latter is inward looking.  Cambodiašs national identity and inward looking mentality contributed to its internal instability and thus made it vulnerable to foreign invasions dating from Angkor time.

The trend of the decline of the Khmer nation began at Angkor time and continues to the present.   Psychological, social, political and economic problems imbedded in the Khmer society can be traced back to the building of the Khmer Empire during Angkor era.  Though the horrendous and tragic experiences during the Khmer Rouge reign acutely contributed to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of Cambodians, the abusive and repressive conditions imposed on the Khmers during Angkor period should not be ignored. 

Professor Tith supports his analysis with research of numerous (200 plus sources) credible pre-World War II accounts written by historians and anthropologists studying Cambodia.  A few are Milton Osborne (The Mekong), Charles Higham (The Civilization of Angkor), and David Chandler (A History of Cambodia), etc. Professor Tith concludes by indicating that the Khmer Kings such as Jayavarman II and VII mistreated their own people by using coercive and deceptive concept of Kingship known as Devaraja (God-King) to serve their own selfishness interests and aggrandizement.  This led to the weakening and finally the self-destruction of the Khmer society and nation starting from the ninth century.  Professor Tith also draws on his personal encounters with some of the major actors of Cambodian politics, in particular, the royal family, over the past 60 years.

The methodology that Professor Tith has proposed to use in his planned book is to compare the organization and operation of the Cambodian society during the period of the Khmer Empire with that of Cambodiašs contemporary setting. In doing so, he has found that this model of governance used by the Angkor era kings is similar to the one used by the communist dictatorship under Pol Pot and Hun Sen regime. 

Although the external threat to Cambodia from Vietnam and Thai is real and dangerous, the author --Professor Tith -- would argue that it is a difficult but not an insoluble factor in the equation explaining the Cambodian decline. However, from the authoršs perspective, the real and more intractable factors behind Cambodiašs regression largely reside in the internal inertia and the inability of society, its leaders in particular, to evolve and change, in order to adjust and adapt to new economic, political, and social realities and environment in the world and especially in the region.  

Professor Tith hopes that the planned book will be of some use to both foreigners and Cambodians alike who are interested in learning and helping the Cambodian people to find a just and lasting solution to cure the seemingly insolvable problems that confronted Cambodia since the 15th century, after the sack of Angkor by the Siamese. Finally, he emphasized that the solution for Cambodia rests primarily with the Cambodian people in addition to support from the international community. But, Cambodians must learn how to play the rules of the game˛ in the New World order where nation-statešs prerogatives and responsibilities have been severely restricted. 

9/20/02

Approved:

Theoul Thuch                 Mabbeskal Man             Veronica Ngi

Chairman                       President                      General Secretary

Appendix

Introduction to ŗCambodia:  Anatomy of an Endangered Nation˛, by Naranhkiri Tith, PH.D.