Dancing In Shadows: Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge, and the United Nations in Cambodia

by Benny Widyono

This fascinating book recounts the remarkable tale of a career UN official from Indonesia caught in the turmoil of international and domestic politics swirling around Cambodia during the tumultuous period after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Writing from his experience first as a member of the UN transitional authority and then as a personal envoy to the UN secretary-general, Benny Widyono re-creates the fierce battles for power centering on King Norodom Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge, and Prime Minister Hun Sen. A simultaneous insider and outsider, he also untangles the competing and conflicting agendas of the key international players, especially the United States, China, and Vietnam. He argues that great-power geopolitics throughout the cold war and postDcold war eras triggered and sustained a tragedy of enormous proportions in Cambodia for decades, ultimately leading to a flawed peace process. Widyono tells the inside story of the massive UN operation in Cambodia, the largest and most challenging in the organization's history to that time and long considered a model for UN operations elsewhere. He draws not only on his vantage point as part of the UN bureaucracy, but also as a local UN official in the rural Cambodian province of Siem Reap, the site of Angkor Wat. As a fellow Southeast Asian with no geopolitical axe to grind, Widyono was able to win the respect of Cambodians, including the once and future king, Norodom Sihanouk, whose decline after fifty years as his country's leading figure is vividly portrayed. Putting a human face on international operations, this book will be invaluable reading for anyone interested in Southeast Asia, the role of international peacekeeping, and the international response to genocide.

Genres: History, Biography

356 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew, it needed a fair bit of discipline to get to the end of this long book, but it felt important to do so. It is a memoir of Benny Widyono, a 'career' UN official from Indonesia, regarding his fascinating experiences of Cambodia during 1992-3 and 1994-7.

His 1992-3 posting was overseeing the Siem Reap province during the UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) operations in Cambodia following the Paris Peace Agreements. He tells an intriguing political story culminating in the achievement of a recognised election.

His 1994-7 posting was as UN envoy in Phnom Penh in post-UNTAC Cambodia, ruled by a coalition of two parties - the CPP (Cambodian People's Party), headed by Hun Sen, and FUNCINPEC (Front Uni National pour un Cambodge Independent, Neutre, Pacifique et Cooperatif/National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia), headed by Norodom Ranariddh, a son of the King, Norodom Sihanouk. He unfolds a story of the complicated conflicted co premiership of Hun Sen and Ranariddh, and the interesting role of the king who preferred ruling to merely reigning. He describes the dance of power both within Cambodia and on the international scene, against a backdrop of corruption, massive aid, and maddening interference. He brings the story up to date as far as 2008, reflecting on Cambodia's ongoing journey towards long lasting stability, democracy and justice, and raising genuine questions about the meaning of justice, democracy and human rights discourses in contexts of severe poverty and development in Asia. It will be interesting to bring this story into dialogue with some of the difficult opinions of Lee Kuan Yew and the development of Singapore.

I feel better acquainted with the characters and dynamics of post- Khmer Rouge Cambodia (depending what one cares to mean by 'post-' - the ongoing connections between past and present are quite disarming). I feel I can make a bit better sense of some of the long conversations we had last summer with our guides in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, and the differences in their perspectives on the present situation. I don't know what percentage of the book's details I will be able to remember - there were so many names and peculiar twists and turns and biases which boggled my European brain at times - but it was helpful to immerse myself in its world, absorb some of the bigger picture, and carry forward insights and questions upon which I can build.

[竹溪 刘 · Rating 4 out of 5]

算是第三次印度支那战争的后传。红色高棉政权在1979年初崩溃后，柬埔寨形成了四个主要政治势力：给黎笋当带路党的前红色高棉干部韩桑林、洪森等人的柬埔寨人民党，西哈努克和他儿子拉那烈领导的保王党奉辛比克，宋双领导的共和派高棉人民民族解放阵线，波尔布特、英萨利等人领导的红色高棉残党。由于越南方面坚决支持人民党，后面三个面和心不和的阵营不得不联合起来对抗“越南人的傀儡”，直到1991年才在内外压力下停战。1993年，在联合国监督下的柬埔寨建立了议会制政体，奉辛比克一开始甚至还是得票率最高的党，然而执掌了全国大部分地方已经十几年的人民党已经深度渗透了公务员和军队体制，在洪森的领导下，事实上把柬埔寨带向了一种“列宁党在民主制度下长期执政”的另类模式。在这一过程中，退出了民主进程的红色高棉残党反而成了人民党和奉辛比克竞相拉拢的对象，波尔布特正是在这样的局面下逃脱了法律制裁。

[Thaths · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, first-hand account of Cambodian politics in the 1990s. Starts with the UNTAC-led elections and ends in the end of the 90's.

[Tom Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by a UN insider, this book gives an interesting, unique and valuable perspective of "
politics and events in Cambodia during the UNTAC period.