As is widely known, in 1975, the United States abandoned Cambodia's Lon Nol government and the Khmer Rouge took power. What is less known is that at the time then-freshman Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware supported the evacuation of Vietnam and Cambodia. On April 25, 1975, the United States exited Cambodia. Sirik Matak Sisowath, the former Cambodian prime minister who refused to leave and who was killed by the Khmer Rouge days later, famously remarked: "I have only committed the mistake of believing in you [the Americans]."
While critics said Mr Biden's recent Afghanistan policy was ad hoc and not well thought out, it is the same as his approach to Cambodia in the 1970s and is essentially unchanged.
The Biden administration's recent sanctions on Cambodia must be viewed in this historical context. It is part of Mr Biden's mindset. It is based on misapplying the Afghanistan paradigm to an incomparable situation.
An independent and democratic country, Cambodia has been used as a pawn in Cold War politics. This includes Kissinger's secret bombings of suspected communist bases and supply lines in Cambodia starting in 1969. The post-World War II Cambodian government was first a French-centric colony, then in a US-centric period, then in a China-centric period, then in a Vietnam-centric period, and now arguably reverting back to a China-centric period. It is like a ping-pong ball. None of this was or is inevitable and reflects a misunderstanding of Cambodian politics.
Cambodia gained independence in 1953 under Norodom Sihanouk. In 1955, he abandoned the throne to his father and was the head of government for 15 years in the "Sihanouk Era". After World War II, the United States provided economic support to Cambodia.
From 1960-1970, the late Norodom Sihanouk was prime minister. He had long had ties to China. The Sihanouk and Sisowath families are two of the eligible royal families in Cambodia. In May 1965, Cambodia broke diplomatic relations with the United States. Sihanouk wanted to be neutral during the Vietnam War.
From 1970-1975, the United States supported the coup against Sihanouk, who fled to Beijing and later supported the Khmer Rouge, and the Lon Nol government (Khmer Republic). Washington made a loan of US$278 million (9.3 billion baht) to the Lon Nol government, which it is now claiming has doubled to be $500 million. Recently, the Biden administration has demanded repayment of this loan.
In 1975-1979, the United States condemned Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea.
In the Cambodian-Vietnam War of 1979, Vietnam ousted the Khmer Rouge from power.
In 1989, Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia. In 1985, Hun Sen was the prime minister. At the age of 33, he was the youngest prime minister in the world. He now ranks as the longest serving, having been in power for 36 years. At 26, he was the youngest foreign minister in the world. After that, Cambodia entered into civil war.
In 1991, the warring factions agreed to a ceasefire.
In 1992-1993, the country was under the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). In my opinion, the UNTAC was a successful transition to elections and kept the peace.
In 1992, significantly, the United States ended its economic embargo of Cambodia and, in 1994, opened the US mission in Phnom Penh.
From 1997 to the present time, Hun Sen has been the prime minister of Cambodia. He is a genius and a perfect ally for Washington. His son, who he has recently endorsed as his successor, is a graduate of the US Military Academy West Point. Hun Sen is part of an emerging democracy that is free-market capitalist. It is one of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) which is historically (though less so recently) pro-Western and a political bloc that China is not part of. Under Hun Sen, Cambodia established a stock market. The World Bank says Cambodia has the most open foreign direct investment regime in Asean while Thailand has the most restrictive. Cambodia's currency is the greenback.
On Nov 12, 2021, the Biden administration announced an arms embargo against Cambodia due to allegations of growing Chinese military influence and China's "refurbishment" of the Ream Naval Base. Since the US is not an important arms supplier to Cambodia, it is a pointless policy that coincides with the US-led boycott of China's Winter Olympics, another "paper tiger" which reflects more weakness than strength and is a way of appearing to do something when in fact it is nothing.
Hun Sen's reaction to the embargo was to use the Afghan analogy: "A lot of those who use US arms lost wars," citing Afghanistan. Even before the embargo, on Sept 12, Hun Sen said the situation in Afghanistan evoked memories of when the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh in 1975.
Cambodia could and should be a key ally of the United States. But first, Washington has to understand how Hun Sen views the world. First, Cambodia lost a lot of land area to Vietnam. The map shows the loss of Cambodian territory as the price of Vietnam's occupation in the 1980s and also continuing into the 1990s. China provides a counterbalance to Vietnam's threat to and incursions on Cambodian sovereignty and land area. The United States is not offering to protect Cambodia from Vietnam, whereas China is. So the United States is not giving Cambodia any choice. This is different from Thailand, which has never faced aggression from China or Vietnam because it is viewed as being under the security umbrella of the United States. In 2003, under former president George W Bush, Thailand was named a key non-Nato ally.
Hun Sen is the ideal leader to have constructive relations with China, Vietnam, and the United States. President Biden is still stuck in the "Afghanistan mindset" which has roots in his leading role in America's evacuation of Cambodia in 1975. In fact, he owes a debt to Cambodia.
Mr Biden needs to view Hun Sen as the current chairman of Asean, a political and economic competitor of China's made up of democratic countries. He is a mastermind who wants to be a key ally of the United States.
President Biden needs to build bridges with Cambodia and spend time with Hun Sen. Hun Sen was a poor soldier who became prime minister. He is a nationalist who Mr Biden needs to understand must protect his country from numerous external threats.
Instead of this unwise embargo, Mr Biden should write off the contentious $500 million debt and name Cambodia as a key non-Nato ally. Cambodia can then rest assured that, like Thailand, which is under no threat, Cambodia can count on American protection and not be another Lon Nol government or Afghanistan -- the ghosts of Mr Biden's past.
Christopher Beres is a lawyer who has represented the Cambodian government in international litigation. He holds a master's degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.