US Foreign Policy in Cambodia 1945-1993

This thesis examines the effects of U.S. foreignpolicy upon the lives of ordinary Cambodians from 1945-1993. It concludesthat U.S. policies in Southeast Asia systematicallydestabilized Cambodia both politically and economically contributed to thedevelopment and victory of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in 1975and helped to delay Cambodia's recovery from the Khmer Rougegenocide until 1993. It also examines the factors that influencedU.S. foreign policy towards Cambodia and finds that localCambodian issues were rarely taken into account by U.S. policymakersand that U.S. policy toward Cambodia during this period was insteadlargely determined by American Cold War strategy. This studypulls facts and arguments from myriad secondary resources and isan attempt to produce a more coherent narrative of the effectsof U.S. foreign policy in Cambodia than currently exists.