Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the UN's Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished from peacebuilding , peacemaking , and peace enforcement although the United Nations does acknowledge that all activities are "mutually reinforcing" and that overlap between them is frequent in practice.
151-643: The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia ( UNTAC ) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1992–93 formed following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords . This was the first occasion in which the UN directly assumed responsibility for the administration of an outright independent state (though the UN did administer the former Dutch territory of Netherlands New Guinea between 1962 and 1963 prior), rather than simply monitoring or supervising
302-566: A Cham who served as the deputy minister of agriculture under the People's Republic of Kampuchea , stated that Khmer Rouge troops had perpetrated a number of massacres in Cham villages in the Central and Eastern zones where the residents had refused to give up Islamic customs. While François Ponchaud stated that Christians were invariably taken away and killed with the accusation of having links with
453-565: A central role in the regime of Democratic Kampuchea. At some time between 1949 and 1951, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary joined the French Communist Party. In 1951, the two men went to East Berlin to participate in a youth festival. This experience is considered to have been a turning point in their ideological development. Meeting with Khmers who were fighting with the Viet Minh (but subsequently judged them to be too subservient to
604-902: A degree, but according to Jesuit priest Father François Ponchaud he acquired a taste for the classics of French literature as well as an interest in the writings of Karl Marx. Another member of the Paris student group was Ieng Sary, a Chinese-Khmer from South Vietnam. He attended the elite Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh before beginning courses in commerce and politics at the Paris Institute of Political Science (more widely known as Sciences Po ) in France. Khieu Samphan specialized in economics and politics during his time in Paris. Hou Yuon studied economics and law; Son Sen studied education and literature; and Hu Nim studied law. Two members of
755-465: A distinctive and eclectic "post-Leninist" ideology that drew on elements of Stalinism, Maoism and the postcolonial theory of Frantz Fanon . In the early 1970s, the Khmer Rouge looked to the model of Enver Hoxha 's Albania which they believed was the most advanced communist state then in existence. Many of the regime's characteristics—such as its focus on the rural peasantry rather than
906-490: A greater emphasis on economic development would further increase the efficacy of peacekeeping efforts. Another study suggests that doubling the peacekeeping operation budget, stronger peacekeeping operation mandates and a doubling of the PKO budget would reduce armed conflicts by as much as two thirds relative to a scenario without PKOs. An analysis of 47 peace operations by Virginia Page Fortna of Columbia University found that
1057-605: A higher percentage of female personnel have more often been effective in reducing violence and achieving long-lasting peace agreements than those with lower percentages. Women peacekeepers have been instrumental in addressing issues such as sexual violence, human trafficking, and gender-based discrimination, which are prevalent in conflict-affected areas. Women peacekeepers also serve as role models for women and girls in these areas, showing them that women can be powerful and influential agents of change. The UN Charter stipulates that to assist in maintaining peace and security around
1208-614: A legal political party, the Pracheachon Party, which participated in the 1955 and the 1958 National Assembly elections. In the September 1955 election, it won about 4% of the vote but did not secure a seat in the legislature. Members of the Pracheachon were subject to harassment and arrests because the party remained outside Sihanouk's political organization, Sangkum . Government attacks prevented it from participating in
1359-467: A more extreme form. Additionally, non-Khmers, who comprised a significant part of the supposedly favored segment of the peasantry, were singled out because of their race. According to Ben Kiernan, this was "neither a communist proletarian revolution that privileged the working class, nor a peasant revolution that favored all farmers". While the CPK described itself as the "number 1 Communist state" once it
1510-659: A new constitution and to "kick-start" the rehabilitation of the country. It was to exercise 'supervision' or 'supervision or control' over all aspects of government, including foreign affairs, national defence, finance, public security and information, and to supervise, monitor and verify the withdrawal and non-return of foreign military forces. Its mission was also to canton, disarm and demobilize Cambodia's fighting factions, confiscate caches of weapons and military supplies, promote and protect human rights, oversee military security and maintain law and order, repatriate and resettle refugees and displaced persons, assist in mine clearance and
1661-611: A new group, the Khmer Students Union. Inside, the group was still run by the Cercle Marxiste. The doctoral dissertations which were written by Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan express basic themes that would later become the cornerstones of the policy that was adopted by Democratic Kampuchea. The central role of the peasants in national development was espoused by Hou Yuon in his 1955 thesis, The Cambodian Peasants and Their Prospects for Modernization , which challenged
SECTION 10
#17327763790561812-422: A peacekeeper volunteer was required to be older than age 25 with no maximum age limit. Peacekeeping forces are contributed by member states on a voluntary basis. As of 30 June 2019 , there are 100,411 people serving in UN peacekeeping operations (86,145 uniformed, 12,932 civilian, and 1,334 volunteers). European nations contribute nearly 6,000 people to this total. Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh are among
1963-490: A period of retrenchment and self-examination in UN peacekeeping. As a result, the relatively small United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium ( UNTAES ) transitional administration in Eastern Slavonia received a high degree of commitment and became a "proving ground for ideas, methods, and procedures". It turned out to be considered the most successful UN mission, and
2114-413: A push system, food and water for the number of soldiers deployed is automatically supplied. In a pull system, you have to ask for those rations, and no common sense seems to ever apply. It has been shown that contributors deploy their troops with varying speed. While the peacekeeping force is being assembled, a variety of diplomatic activities are being undertaken by UN staff. The exact size and strength of
2265-647: A reputation in Phnom Penh's small academic circle. The following year, the government closed the paper, and Sihanouk's police publicly humiliated Samphan by beating, undressing and photographing him in public; as Shawcross notes, "not the sort of humiliation that men forgive or forget". Yet the experience did not prevent Samphan from advocating cooperation with Sihanouk in order to promote a united front against United States activities in South Vietnam. Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim were forced to "work through
2416-437: A reserve of easily exploitable agricultural labour, was likely viewed positively by the Khmer Rouge's peasant supporters as removing the source of their debts. Democratic Kampuchea was an atheist state , although its constitution stated that everyone had freedom of religion, or not to hold a religion. However, it specified that what it termed "reactionary religion" would not be permitted. While in practice religious activity
2567-620: A senior member of the Secretariat. The second is the Force Commander, who is responsible for the military forces deployed. They are a senior officer of their nation's armed services, and are often from the nation committing the highest number of troops to the project. Finally, the Chief Administrative Officer oversees supplies and logistics, and coordinates the procurement of any supplies needed. In 2007,
2718-695: A separate Cambodian communist party, the Kampuchean (or Khmer) People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP), was established under Vietnamese auspices; the period following the Second Party Congress of the KPRP in 1960, when Saloth Sar gained control of its apparatus; the revolutionary struggle from the initiation of the Khmer Rouge insurgency in 1967–1968 to the fall of the Lon Nol government in April 1975;
2869-551: A spike in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS by introducing the virus from other affected countries. The number of sex workers in the State of Cambodia rose from about 6,000 in 1991, to over 20,000 after the arrival of UNTAC personnel in 1992. By 1995 there were between 50,000 and 90,000 Cambodians affected by AIDS according to a WHO estimate. United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist ex-combatants in implementing
3020-480: A way to get rid of French colonialism and transform the feudal society. Another interpretation, as proposed by historian Michael Vickery, is that of a bottom-up, left-wing peasant revolution with the Khmer Rouge as the revolutionaries. The Khmer Rouge was an intellectual group with a middle-class background and a romanticised sympathy for rural poor people but with little to no awareness that their radical policies would lead to such violence; according to this view,
3171-581: A yearly basis. Financing covers the period from 1 July to 30 June of the next year. A United Nations peacekeeping mission has three power centers. The first is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General , the official leader of the mission. This person is responsible for all political and diplomatic activity, overseeing relations with both the parties to the peace treaty and the UN member-states in general. They are often
SECTION 20
#17327763790563322-520: Is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid to Khmer Rouge came from China, with 1975 alone seeing US$ 1 billion in interest-free economic and military aid and US$ 20 million gift, which was "the biggest aid ever given to any one country by China". In June 1975, Pol Pot and other officials of Khmer Rouge met with Mao Zedong in Beijing , receiving Mao's approval and advice; in addition, Mao also taught Pot his "Theory of Continuing Revolution under
3473-619: Is often done because a group controlled by the United Nations is less likely to favor the interests of any one party since it itself is controlled by many groups, namely the 15-member Security Council and the intentionally diverse United Nations Secretariat . If the Security Council approves the creation of a mission, then the Department of Peacekeeping Operations begins planning for the necessary elements. At this time,
3624-709: Is significant. By calling itself a workers' party, the Cambodian movement claimed equal status with the Vietnam Workers' Party. The pro-Vietnamese regime of the People's Republic of Kampuchea implied in the 1980s that the September 1960 meeting was nothing more than the second congress of the KPRP. On 20 July 1962, Tou Samouth was murdered by the Cambodian government. At the WPK's second congress in February 1963, Pol Pot
3775-548: The American Journal of Political Science found that UN peacekeeping in South Sudan had a positive effect on the local economy. According to a 2011 study, UN peacekeeping missions were most likely to be successful if they had assistance and consent from domestic actors in the host state. Reporters witnessed a rapid increase of prostitution in Cambodia and Mozambique after UN peacekeeping forces moved in. In
3926-863: The American Political Science Review found that the presence of UN peacekeeping missions had a weak correlation with rule of law while conflict is ongoing, but a robust correlation during periods of peace. The study also found that "the relationship is stronger for civilian than uniformed personnel, and is strongest when UN missions engage host states in the process of reform". Likewise, Georgetown University professor Lise Howard argues that UN peacekeeping operations are more effective by virtue of their lack of compelling force; rather, their use of nonviolent methods such as "verbal persuasion, financial inducements and coercion short of offensive military force, including surveillance and arrest" are likelier to pacify warring parties. A 2021 study in
4077-618: The Cambodian Civil War , where the United States had supported the opposing regime of Lon Nol and heavily bombed Cambodia, primarily targeting communist Vietnamese troops who were allied to the Khmer Rouge, but it gave the Khmer Rouge's leadership a justification to eliminate the pro-Vietnamese faction within the group. The Cambodian genocide was stopped with the Khmer Rouge's overthrow in 1979 by Communist Vietnam. There have been allegations of United States support for
4228-545: The Cambodian genocide which took place under the Khmer Rouge regime led to the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people, around 25% of Cambodia's population. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge was largely supported and funded by the Chinese Communist Party, receiving approval from Mao Zedong ; it is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid which was provided to the Khmer Rouge came from China. The regime
4379-500: The Democratic Kampuchea through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihanouk to describe his country's heterogeneous, communist-led dissidents, with whom he allied after the 1970 Cambodian coup d'état . The Kampuchea Revolutionary Army was slowly built up in the forests of eastern Cambodia during the late 1960s, supported by the People's Army of Vietnam ,
4530-711: The Indian subcontinent . As the Korean War ended with the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, UN forces remained along the south side of demilitarized zone until 1967, when American and South Korean forces took over. Returning its attention to the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the United Nations responded to Suez Crisis of 1956, a war between the alliance of the United Kingdom, France, and Israel, versus Egypt, which
4681-505: The Rwandan genocide there, described the problems this poses by comparison to more traditional military deployments: He told me the UN was a "pull" system, not a "push" system like I had been used to with NATO, because the UN had absolutely no pool of resources to draw on. You had to make a request for everything you needed, and then you had to wait while that request was analyzed... For instance, soldiers everywhere have to eat and drink. In
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia - Misplaced Pages Continue
4832-499: The Third World on the economic domination of the industrialized nations. After returning to Cambodia in 1953, Pol Pot threw himself into party work. At first, he went to join with forces allied to the Viet Minh operating in the rural areas of Kampong Cham Province . After the end of the war, he moved to Phnom Penh under Tou Samouth's "urban committee", where he became an important point of contact between above-ground parties of
4983-457: The UN is that peacekeeping operations , unfortunately, seems to be doing the same thing that other militaries do. Even the guardians have to be guarded." The following table chart illustrates confirmed accounts of crimes and human rights violations committed by United Nations soldiers, peacekeepers, and employees. In response to criticism, particularly of the cases of sexual abuse by peacekeepers,
5134-1192: The UNESCO World Heritage in Lebanon. Women have regularly participated in global peacekeeping efforts, including through the United Nations . Although participation greatly increased in the last decade of the 20th century and the first two decades of 21st century, women remained significantly underrepresented in peacekeeping operations in 2023. The participation of women in peacekeeping operations differs significantly between military contingents, military observers, staff officers versus police units. Gender stereotypes and discrimination often limit women's opportunities for advancement and leadership roles within international organizations and military institutions. Additionally, women often face discrimination and harassment in male-dominated peacekeeping environments. The inclusion of women in peacekeeping operations provides access to places and people inaccessible to men and improves communication quality with civilian communities. Peacekeeping missions with
5285-651: The Viet Cong , the Pathet Lao , and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although it originally fought against Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge changed its position and supported Sihanouk following the CCP's advice after he was overthrown in a 1970 coup d'état by Lon Nol who established the pro-American Khmer Republic . Despite a massive American bombing campaign ( Operation Freedom Deal ) against them,
5436-576: The Vietnam Workers' Party , the Lao Issara , and the Kampuchean or Khmer People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP). According to a document issued after the reorganization, the Vietnam Workers' Party would continue to "supervise" the smaller Laotian and Cambodian movements. Most KPRP leaders and rank-and-file seem to have been either Khmer Krom or ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia. According to Democratic Kampuchea's perspective of party history,
5587-482: The peace agreements they may have signed. Such assistance comes in many forms, including separating former combatants, confidence-building measures, power-sharing arrangements, electoral assistance, strengthening the rule of law, and economic and social development. Accordingly, UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. Chapter VII of
5738-566: The superpowers . As of December 2019, there have been 72 UN peacekeeping operations since 1948, with seventeen operations ongoing. Suggestions for new missions are made every year. The first peacekeeping mission was initiated in 1948. This mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), was sent to the newly created State of Israel , where a conflict between the Israelis and
5889-822: The tutelary spirits , or neak ta , rapidly eroded as people were forcibly moved from their home areas. The position with Buddhist monks was more complicated: as with Islam , many religious leaders were killed whereas many ordinary monks were sent to remote monasteries where they were subjected to hard physical labour. The same division between rural and urban populations was seen in the regime's treatment of monks. For instance, those from urban monasteries were classified as "new monks" and sent to rural areas to live alongside "base monks" of peasant background, who were classified as "proper and revolutionary". Monks were not ordered to defrock until as late as 1977 in Kratié Province , where many monks found that they reverted to
6040-483: The "purest" Marxist–Leninist movement to characterising it as an anti-Marxist "peasant revolution". The first interpretation has been criticized by historian Ben Kiernan , who asserts that it comes from a "convenient anti-communist perspective". Its leaders and theorists, most of whom had been exposed to the heavily Stalinist outlook of the French Communist Party during the 1950s, developed
6191-522: The 1950s on, Pol Pot had made frequent visits to the People's Republic of China, receiving political and military training—especially on the theory of dictatorship of the proletariat —from the personnel of the CCP. From November 1965 to February 1966, Pol Pot received training from high-ranking CCP officials such as Chen Boda and Zhang Chunqiao , on topics such as the communist revolution in China , class conflicts , and Communist International . Pol Pot
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia - Misplaced Pages Continue
6342-580: The 1962 election and drove it underground. Sihanouk habitually labelled local leftists the Khmer Rouge, a term that later came to signify the party and the state headed by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and their associates. During the mid-1950s, KPRP factions, the "urban committee" (headed by Tou Samouth) and the "rural committee" (headed by Sieu Heng), emerged. In very general terms, these groups espoused divergent revolutionary lines. The prevalent "urban" line endorsed by North Vietnam recognized that Sihanouk by virtue of his success in winning independence from
6493-609: The 1970s. Some historians such as Ben Kiernan have stated that the importance the regime gave to race overshadowed its conceptions of class. The Khmer Rouge targeted particular groups of people, among them Buddhist monks , ethnic minorities, and educated elites. Once in power, the Khmer Rouge explicitly targeted the Chinese , the Vietnamese , the Cham minority and even their partially Khmer offspring. The same attitude extended to
6644-534: The 1996 UN study "The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children", the former first lady of Mozambique Graça Machel documented: "In 6 out of 12 country studies on sexual exploitation of children in situations of armed conflict prepared for the present report, the arrival of peacekeeping troops has been associated with a rapid rise in child prostitution." Gita Sahgal spoke out in 2004 about the fact that prostitution and sex abuse occurs wherever humanitarian intervention efforts are established. She observed: "The issue with
6795-749: The Arab states concerning the creation of Israel had just reached a ceasefire . The UNTSO remains in operation to this day, although the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has persisted. Almost a year later, the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was authorized to monitor relations between the two nations, which were divided from each other after the United Kingdom's decolonization of
6946-618: The Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party, respectively. FUNCINPEC then entered into a coalition with the other parties that had participated in the election. The parties represented in the 120-member assembly proceeded to draft and approve a new constitution, which was promulgated 24 September 1993. It established a multiparty liberal democracy in the framework of a constitutional monarchy, with the former Prince Sihanouk elevated to King. Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen became First and Second Prime Ministers, respectively, in
7097-749: The Cambodian Civil War and the years afterward. In 1970 alone, the Chinese reportedly gave 400 tons of military aid to the National United Front of Kampuchea formed by Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia, and in January 1976, Democratic Kampuchea was established. During the Cambodian genocide , the CCP was the main international patron of the Khmer Rouge, supplying "more than 15,000 military advisers" and most of its external aid. It
7248-563: The Cercle Marxiste (Marxist circle). The organization was composed of cells of three to six members with most members knowing nothing about the overall structure of the organization. In 1952, Pol Pot, Hou Yuon, Ieng Sary and other leftists gained notoriety by sending an open letter to Sihanouk calling him the "strangler of infant democracy". A year later, the French authorities closed down the KSA, but Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan helped to establish in 1956
7399-606: The Chinese reportedly gave 400 tons of military aid to the United Front. Although thoroughly aware of the weakness of Lon Nol's forces and loath to commit American military force to the new conflict in any form other than air power, the Nixon administration supported the newly proclaimed Khmer Republic. On 29 March 1970, the North Vietnamese launched an offensive against the Cambodian army. Documents uncovered from
7550-618: The Democratic Kampuchea regime from April 1975 to January 1979; and the period following the Third Party Congress of the KPRP in January 1979, when Hanoi effectively assumed control over Cambodia's government and communist party. In 1930, Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist Party of Vietnam by unifying three smaller communist movements that had emerged in northern, central and southern Vietnam during
7701-627: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat" ( 无产阶级专政下继续革命理论 ). High-ranking CCP officials such as Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help. Democratic Kampuchea was overthrown by the Vietnamese army in January 1979, and the Khmer Rouge fled to Thailand . However, to counter the power of the Soviet Union and Vietnam, a group of countries including China, the United States, Thailand as well as some Western countries supported
SECTION 50
#17327763790567852-534: The Egyptians were suspicious of having a Commonwealth nation defend them against the United Kingdom and its allies. In the end, a wide variety of national forces were drawn upon to ensure national diversity. Pearson would win the Nobel Peace Prize for this work. In 1988, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations peacekeeping forces. The press release stated that the forces "represent
8003-465: The French was a genuine national leader whose neutralism and deep distrust of the United States made him a valuable asset in Hanoi's struggle to "liberate" South Vietnam. Advocates of this line hoped that the prince could be persuaded to distance himself from the right-wing and to adopt leftist policies. The other line, supported for the most part by rural cadres who were familiar with the harsh realities of
8154-683: The Khmer Rouge following their overthrow and the United Nations General Assembly voted to continue recognising Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea. Communism in South East Asia was deeply divided, as China supported the Khmer Rouge, while the Soviet Union and Vietnam opposed it. There are three interpretations of the Khmer Rouge: totalitarianism , revisionism, and postrevisionism. Historian Ben Kiernan describes their rule as totalitarian but places it within
8305-430: The Khmer Rouge among the Cambodian peasantry. According to Ben Kiernan, the Khmer Rouge "would not have won power without U.S. economic and military destabilization of Cambodia. ... It used the bombing's devastation and massacre of civilians as recruitment propaganda and as an excuse for its brutal, radical policies and its purge of moderate communists and Sihanoukists." Pol Pot biographer David P. Chandler writes that
8456-421: The Khmer Rouge but disputed that it was a primary cause of the Khmer Rouge victory. William Shawcross writes that the United States bombing and ground incursion plunged Cambodia into the chaos that Sihanouk had worked for years to avoid. By 1973, Vietnamese support of the Khmer Rouge had largely disappeared. On the other hand, the CCP largely "armed and trained" the Khmer Rouge, including Pol Pot, both during
8607-581: The Khmer Rouge leadership on the peasantry as the base of the revolution was according to Michael Vickery a product of their status as " petty-bourgeois radicals who had been overcome by peasantist romanticism ". The opposition of the peasantry and the urban population in Khmer Rouge ideology was heightened by the structure of the Cambodian rural economy , where small farmers and peasants had historically suffered from indebtedness to urban money-lenders rather than suffering from indebtedness to landlords. The policy of evacuating major towns, as well as providing
8758-443: The Khmer Rouge was increased as a result of the situation created by the removal of Sihanouk as head of state in 1970 . Premier Lon Nol deposed Sihanouk with the support of the National Assembly . Sihanouk, who was in exile in Beijing, made an alliance with the Khmer Rouge on the advice of CCP, and became the nominal head of a Khmer Rouge–dominated government-in-exile (known by its French acronym GRUNK ) backed by China. In 1970 alone,
8909-413: The Khmer Rouge was not able to win over, but were mainly motivated to tear down the old one and violence became an end in itself. The history of the communist movement in Cambodia can be divided into six phases, namely the emergence before World War II of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), whose members were almost exclusively Vietnamese; the 10-year struggle for independence from the French, when
9060-408: The Khmer Rouge won the Cambodian Civil War when they captured the Cambodian capital and overthrew the Khmer Republic in 1975. Following their victory, the Khmer Rouge, who were led by Pol Pot , Nuon Chea , Ieng Sary , Son Sen , and Khieu Samphan , immediately set about forcibly evacuating the country's major cities. In 1976, they renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea. The Khmer Rouge regime
9211-399: The Khmer Rouge) held onto Cambodia's United Nations seat (with considerable international support) until 1993, when the monarchy was restored and the name of the Cambodian state was changed to the Kingdom of Cambodia. A year later, thousands of Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrendered themselves in a government amnesty. In 1996, a new political party called the Democratic National Union Movement
SECTION 60
#17327763790569362-480: The Khmer Rouge-dominated Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea to continue holding Cambodia's seat in the United Nations, which was held until 1993, after the Cold War had ended. In 2009, China defended its past ties with previous Cambodian governments, including that of Democratic Kampuchea or Khmer Rouge, which at the time had a legal seat at the United Nations and foreign relations with more than 70 countries. The governing structure of Democratic Kampuchea
9513-423: The Khmer Rouge. Over 4 million Cambodians (about 90% of eligible voters) participated in the May 1993 elections , although the Khmer Rouge or Party of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK), whose forces were never actually disarmed or demobilised, barred some people from participating. Prince Ranariddh 's FUNCINPEC Party was the top vote recipient with a 45.5% vote, followed by Hun Sen 's Cambodian People's Party and
9664-432: The Lon Nol government running out of ammunition, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before the government would collapse. On 17 April 1975, there was the Fall of Phnom Penh , as the Khmer Rouge captured the capital. During the civil war, unparalleled atrocities were executed on both sides. While the civil war was brutal, its estimated death toll has been revised downwards over time. The relationship between
9815-466: The Paris Peace Accords of October 1991. UNTAC was the product of intense diplomatic activity over many years. Headed by Chief of Mission Yasushi Akashi (Japan), Force Commander Lieutenant-General John Sanderson (Australia), and Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Klaas Roos (Netherlands), UNTAC involved approximately 15,900 military, 3,400 civilian police, 2,000 civilians and 450 UN volunteers, as well as locally recruited staff and interpreters. During
9966-402: The Royal Cambodian Government (RGC). The constitution provides for a wide range of internationally recognised human rights. The 46 participating countries providing military observers, police, or troops were: Norodom Sihanouk had reservations about the UNTAC operation. The massive presence of foreign troops led to the abuse of some Cambodian women, boosting prostitution and possibly driving
10117-432: The Security Council dispatched peacekeepers to conflict zones like Somalia , where neither ceasefires nor the consent of all the parties in conflict had been secured. These operations did not have the manpower, nor were they supported by the required political will, to implement their mandates. The failures—most notably the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica and Bosnia and Herzegovina —resulted in
10268-413: The Security Council. According to UN Charter every Member State is obligated legally to pay their respective share for peacekeeping. Peacekeeping expenses are divided by the General Assembly based upon a formula established by Member States which takes into account the relative economic wealth of Member States among other factors. In 2017, the UN agreed to reduce the peacekeeping budget by $ 600 million after
10419-429: The Soviet Union archives revealed that the invasion was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge following negotiations with Nuon Chea. A force of North Vietnamese quickly overran large parts of eastern Cambodia reaching to within 15 miles (24 km) of Phnom Penh before being pushed back. By June, three months after the removal of Sihanouk, they had swept government forces from the entire northeastern third of
10570-449: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency , at least some cadres appear to have regarded it as preferable to the "feudal" class-based Buddhism. Nevertheless, it remained deeply suspect to the regime thanks to its close links to French colonialism ; Phnom Penh cathedral was razed along with other places of worship. In analysing the Khmer Rouge regime, scholars place it within historical context. The Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975 through
10721-404: The UN and deployed by the Security Council. The UN rapid reaction force would consist of military personnel from Security Council members or UN member states who would be stationed in their home countries, but would have the same training, equipment, and procedures, and would conduct joint exercises with other forces. The UN peacekeeping capacity was enhanced in 2007 by augmenting the DPKO with
10872-639: The UN does not have such a force. In cases where direct UN involvement is not considered appropriate or feasible, the Council authorizes regional organizations such as NATO , the Economic Community of West African States , or coalitions of willing countries to perform peacekeeping or peace-enforcement tasks. Jean-Pierre Lacroix is the Head of the Department of Peace Operations; he took over from
11023-402: The UN has taken steps toward reforming its operations. The Brahimi Report was the first of many steps to recap former peacekeeping missions, isolate flaws, and take steps to patch these mistakes to ensure the efficiency of future peacekeeping missions. The UN has vowed to continue to put these practices into effect when performing peacekeeping operations in the future. The technocratic aspects of
11174-414: The UN, to areas where warring parties were in need of a neutral party to observe the peace process. Peacekeepers could be activated when the major international powers ( the five permanent members of the Security Council ) tasked the UN with helping to end conflicts threatening regional stability and international peace and security. These included a number of so-called " proxy wars " waged by client states of
11325-802: The US initially proposed a larger decrease of approximately $ 900 million. [REDACTED] China 10.29% [REDACTED] Japan 9.68% [REDACTED] Germany 6.39% [REDACTED] France 6.31% [REDACTED] United Kingdom 5.80% [REDACTED] Russia 4.01% [REDACTED] Italy 3.75% [REDACTED] Canada 2.92% [REDACTED] Spain 2.44% Many countries have also voluntarily made additional resources available to support UN Peacekeeping efforts such as by transportation, supplies, personnel and financial contributions beyond their assessed share of peacekeeping costs. The General Assembly approves resource expenditures for peacekeeping operations on
11476-598: The United Nations Charter gives the United Nations Security Council the power and responsibility to take collective action to maintain international peace and security. Most of these operations are established and implemented by the United Nations itself, with troops obeying UN operational control. In these cases, peacekeepers remain members of their respective armed forces, and do not constitute an independent "UN army", as
11627-651: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Union and European Union. 2008 capstone doctrine entitled "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines" incorporates and builds on the Brahimi analysis. One suggestion to account for delays such as the one in Rwanda is a rapid reaction force , a peacekeeping force similar to a standing army capable of quickly deploying to crises such as genocides, administered by
11778-540: The United States, the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations began with differing philosophies but came to adopt remarkably similar policies using peace operations to assist American foreign policy. Initial ideological concerns were replaced by pragmatic decisions about how to assist UN peace operations. Both administrations were reluctant to contribute large contingents of ground troops to UN-commanded operations, even as both administrations endorsed increases in
11929-453: The Viet Minh's failure to negotiate a political role for the KPRP at the 1954 Geneva Conference represented a betrayal of the Cambodian movement, which still controlled large areas of the countryside, and which commanded at least 5,000 armed men. Following the conference, about 1,000 members of the KPRP, including Son Ngoc Minh, made a Long March into North Vietnam , where they remained in exile. In late 1954, those who stayed in Cambodia founded
12080-557: The Vietnamese), they became convinced that only a tightly disciplined party organization and a readiness for armed struggle could achieve revolution. They transformed the Khmer Students Association (KSA), to which most of the 200 or so Khmer students in Paris belonged, into an organization for nationalist and leftist ideas. Inside the KSA and its successor organizations, there was a secret organization known as
12231-511: The applicability of genocide is rejected and the violence was an unintentional consequence that was beyond the Khmer Rouge's control. For Vickery, communist ideology does not explain the violence any more than those closer to the peasants', such as agrarianism, populism , and nationalism . Vickery wrote of communisms, as different communist factions were opposed to each other and fought against each other, resulting in further escalation of violence. A synthesis of both interpretations rejects
12382-453: The area. The UN transitional authority organized and ran elections , had its own radio station and jail, and was responsible for promoting and safeguarding human rights at the national level. UNTAC was established in February 1992 under United Nations Security Council Resolution 745 in agreement with the State of Cambodia , the de facto government of the country at that time, to implement
12533-520: The bombing "had the effect the Americans wanted – it broke the Communist encirclement of Phnom Penh", but it also accelerated the collapse of rural society and increased social polarization. Peter Rodman and Michael Lind claim that the United States intervention saved the Lon Nol regime from collapse in 1970 and 1973. Craig Etcheson acknowledged that U.S. intervention increased recruitment for
12684-485: The central committee left Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in Ratanakiri Province in the northeast. Pol Pot had shortly before been put on a list of 34 leftists who were summoned by Sihanouk to join the government and sign statements saying Sihanouk was the only possible leader for the country. Pol Pot and Chou Chet were the only people on the list who escaped. All the others agreed to cooperate with
12835-402: The context of "xenophobic European nationalism ", from which came their agrarianism and the establishment of a Great Cambodia, rather than communism or Marxism . Pol Pot's biographers David P. Chandler and Philip Short place more emphasis on their ideological heritage of communism; it was not easy to apply Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin 's ideas to Cambodia, and communism was chosen as
12986-523: The conventional view that urbanization and industrialization are necessary precursors of development. The major argument in Khieu Samphan's 1959 thesis, Cambodia's Economy and Industrial Development , was that the country had to become self-reliant and end its economic dependency on the developed world . In its general contours, Samphan's work reflected the influence of a branch of the dependency theory school which blamed lack of development in
13137-439: The country. After defeating those forces, the North Vietnamese turned the newly won territories over to the local insurgents. The Khmer Rouge also established "liberated" areas in the south and the southwestern parts of the country, where they operated independently of the North Vietnamese. After Sihanouk showed his support for the Khmer Rouge by visiting them in the field, their ranks swelled from 6,000 to 50,000 fighters. Many of
13288-505: The countryside, advocated an immediate struggle to overthrow the " feudalist " Sihanouk. During the 1950s, Khmer students in Paris organized their own communist movement which had little, if any, connection to the hard-pressed party in their homeland. From their ranks came the men and women who returned home and took command of the party apparatus during the 1960s, led an effective insurgency against Lon Nol from 1968 until 1975 and established
13439-438: The decision, its forces provided shelter and weapons to the Khmer Rouge after the insurgency started. Vietnamese support for the insurgency made it impossible for the Cambodian military to effectively counter it. For the next two years, the insurgency grew as Sihanouk did very little to stop it. As the insurgency grew stronger, the party finally openly declared itself to be the Communist Party of Kampuchea. The political appeal of
13590-630: The deterioration in relations between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea , the Vietnamese government no longer recognize the legitimacy of the Khmer Rouge, and as a result, they call the Khmer Rouge the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique ( Vietnamese : Tập đoàn Pol Pot-Ieng Sary ) or the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary reactionary clique ( Vietnamese : Tập đoàn phản động Pol Pot-Ieng Sary ). The movement's ideology
13741-505: The effectiveness of UN missions. Nicholas Sambanis asserts that the presence of a UN peacekeeping mission is correlated with a positive effect on the achievement of peace, especially in the short-term. However, he notes that this effect is lessened over time. Thus, the longer that peacekeepers remain in a country, the greater the likelihood that peace will maintain. Acknowledging the success that UN peacekeeping operations have achieved in increasing political participation, Sambanis claims that
13892-450: The electoral period, more than 50,000 Cambodians served as electoral staff and some 900 international polling station officers were seconded from Governments. The whole operation cost over $ 1.6 billion (equivalent to $ 2.5 billion in 2017), mostly in salaries for expatriates. UNTAC's aim was to restore peace and civil government in a country ruined by decades of civil war and Cold War machinations, to hold free and fair elections leading to
14043-476: The establishment of a tribunal to try senior leaders responsible for the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. Donor countries pledged the $ 43 million international share of the three-year tribunal budget, while the Cambodian government's share of the budget was $ 13.3 million. The first trials of senior Khmer Rouge leaders took place only in 2007, when many of them were already dead or in ill-health. Despite UNTAC's boasting of its effectiveness and being feted by
14194-547: The establishment of training programmes in mine clearance and mine awareness, rehabilitate essential infrastructure and assist in economic reconstruction and development. Another important goal was the trial of senior Khmer Rouge leaders . The process that was initiated during the UNTAC led on 4 October 2004, to the ratification of an agreement with the United Nations by the Cambodian National Assembly on
14345-488: The fatalities during the first 55 years of UN peacekeeping occurred in the years 1993–1995. The rate of reimbursement by the UN for troop-contributing countries per peacekeeper per month include: $ 1,028 for pay and allowances; $ 303 supplementary pay for specialists; $ 68 for personal clothing, gear and equipment; and $ 5 for personal weaponry. Canada has served in over 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort from its inception until 1989. Canada provided
14496-421: The field. When all agreements have been completed, the required personnel are assembled, and final approval has been given by the Security Council, the peacekeepers are deployed to the region in question. The financial resources of UN Peacekeeping operations are the collective responsibility of UN Member States. Decisions about the establishment, maintenance or expansion of peacekeeping operations are taken by
14647-520: The force must be agreed to by the government of the nation whose territory the conflict is on. The Rules of Engagement must be developed and approved by both the parties involved and the Security Council. These give the specific mandate and scope of the mission (e.g. when may the peacekeepers, if armed, use force, and where may they go within the host nation). Often, it will be mandated that peacekeepers have host government minders with them whenever they leave their base. This complexity has caused problems in
14798-425: The former Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous on 1 April 2017. Since 1997, all directors have been French. DPKO's highest level doctrine document, entitled "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines" was issued in 2008. Once a peace treaty has been negotiated, the parties involved might ask the United Nations for a peacekeeping force to supervise various elements of the agreed upon plan. This
14949-479: The government and were afterward under 24-hour watch by the police. The region where Pol Pot and the others moved to was inhabited by tribal minorities, the Khmer Loeu , whose rough treatment (including resettlement and forced assimilation ) at the hands of the central government made them willing recruits for a guerrilla struggle. In 1965, Pol Pot made a visit of several months to North Vietnam and China. From
15100-599: The group, Khieu Samphan and Hou Yuon, earned doctorates from the University of Paris while Hu Nim obtained his degree from the University of Phnom Penh in 1965. Most came from landowner or civil servant families. Pol Pot and Hou Yuon may have been related to the royal family as an older sister of Pol Pot had been a concubine at the court of King Monivong . Pol Pot and Ieng Sary married Khieu Ponnary and Khieu Thirith, also known as Ieng Thirith , purportedly relatives of Khieu Samphan. These two well-educated women also played
15251-616: The idea of history as inevitable progression toward communism. In 1981, following the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, in an attempt to get foreign support, the Khmer Rouge officially renounced communism. One of the regime's main characteristics was its Khmer nationalism, which combined an idealisation of the Angkor Empire (802–1431) and the Late Middle Period of Cambodia (1431–1863) with an existential fear for
15402-583: The international community as a success, UNTAC failed to disarm the Khmer Rouge , while effectively disarming the SOC's local militias. This bias allowed the Khmer Rouge to make territorial gains and gave rise to political violence. The State of Cambodia's military leaders were furious, claiming that UNTAC was extremely exacting with the disarmament of the CPAF , but too lenient and ineffective when it came to disarm
15553-657: The involvement of UN personnel generally resulted in enduring peace. Political scientists Hanne Fjelde, Lisa Hultman and Desiree Nilsson of Uppsala University studied twenty years of data on peacekeeping missions, including in Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic, and concluded that they were more effective at reducing civilian casualties than counterterrorism operations by nation states. A 2021 study in
15704-483: The largest individual contributors with about 8,000 people each. African nations contributed nearly half the total, almost 44,000 people. Every peacekeeping mission is authorized by the Security Council. United Nations peacekeeping was initially developed during the Cold War as a means of resolving conflicts between states by deploying unarmed or lightly armed military personnel from a number of countries, commanded by
15855-786: The last 56 years. As of June 2022, 120 countries were contributing a total of 74,892 personnel in Peacekeeping Operations, with Bangladesh leading the tally (6,700), followed by India (5,832), Nepal (5,794), Rwanda (5,283) and Pakistan (4,399). In addition to military and police personnel, 5,187 international civilian personnel, 2,031 UN Volunteers and 12,036 local civilian personnel worked in UN peacekeeping missions as of March 2008. Through October 2018, 3,767 people from more than 100 countries had been killed while serving on peacekeeping missions. Many of those came from India (163), Nigeria (153), Pakistan (150), Bangladesh (146), and Ghana (138). Thirty percent of
16006-550: The late 1920s. The party was renamed the Indochinese Communist Party, ostensibly so it could include revolutionaries from Cambodia and Laos. Almost without exception, all of the earliest party members were Vietnamese. By the end of World War II, a handful of Cambodians had joined its ranks, but their influence on the Indochinese communist movement as well as their influence on developments within Cambodia
16157-529: The left and the underground secret communist movement. His comrades Ieng Sary and Hou Yuon became teachers at a new private high school, the Lycée Kambuboth, which Hou Yuon helped to establish. Khieu Samphan returned from Paris in 1959, taught as a member of the law faculty of the University of Phnom Penh, and started a left-wing French-language publication, L'Observateur . The paper soon acquired
16308-590: The likelihood that they will agree to a cease-fire. However, there have been several reports during UN peacekeeping missions of human rights abuse by UN soldiers, notably in the Central African Republic in 2015. The cost of these missions is also significant, with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan ( UNMISS ) costing $ 1 billion per year for 12,500 UN soldiers unable to prevent the country's civil war. Often missions require approval from local governments before deploying troops which can also limit
16459-676: The manifest will of the community of nations" and have "made a decisive contribution" to the resolution of conflict around the world. The end of the Cold War precipitated a dramatic shift in UN and multilateral peacekeeping. In a new spirit of cooperation, the Security Council established larger and more complex UN peacekeeping missions, often to help implement comprehensive peace agreements between belligerents in intra-State conflicts and civil wars . Furthermore, peacekeeping came to involve more and more non-military elements that ensured
16610-410: The massive carpet bombing of Cambodia by the United States and the growth of the Khmer Rouge, in terms of recruitment and popular support, has been a matter of interest to historians. Some scholars, including Michael Ignatieff , Adam Jones and Greg Grandin , have cited the United States intervention and bombing campaign (spanning 1965–1973) as a significant factor which led to increased support for
16761-621: The members of the Pol Pot clique, particularly So Phim and Nhim Ros, both of whom were vice presidents of the state presidium and members of the Politburo and Central Committee respectively. A possible military coup attempt was made in May 1976, and its leader was a senior Eastern Zone cadre named Chan Chakrey, who had been appointed deputy secretary of the army's General Staff. A reorganisation that occurred in September 1976, during which Pol Pot
16912-541: The mid-1990s. Its leaders were mostly from middle-class families and had been educated at French universities. The second significant faction was made up of men who had been active in the pre-1960 party and had stronger links to Vietnam as a result; government documents show that there were several major shifts in power between factions during the period in which the regime was in control. In 1975–1976, there were several powerful regional Khmer Rouge leaders who maintained their own armies and had different party backgrounds than
17063-610: The most UN peacekeepers during the Cold War with approximately 80,000 personnel – equivalent to 10 percent of total UN forces. In all, more than 125,000 Canadian men and women military personnel, civilians, diplomats – including over 4,000 Canadian police officers – have served in peacekeeping operations. Approximately 130 Canadians have died in service of peacekeeping operations, with 123 of these deaths occurring during UN missions. Seven Canadians have been UN force commanders and two Canadians have been commanders of UN observer missions. In
17214-465: The new Department of Field Support (DFS). Whereas the new entity serves as a key enabler by co-ordinating the administration and logistics in UN peacekeeping operations, DPKO concentrates on policy planning and providing strategic directions. Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to
17365-418: The new recruits for the Khmer Rouge were apolitical peasants who fought in support of the king, not for communism, of which they had little understanding. Sihanouk's popular support in rural Cambodia allowed the Khmer Rouge to extend its power and influence to the point that by 1973 it exercised de facto control over the majority of Cambodian territory, although only a minority of its population. By 1975, with
17516-408: The number and scale of UN missions. According to scholar Page Fortna, there is strong evidence that the presence of peacekeepers significantly reduces the risk of renewed warfare; more peacekeeping troops results in fewer battlefield and civilian deaths. There is also evidence that the promise to deploy peacekeepers can help international organizations in bringing combatants to negotiate and increase
17667-421: The party was a closely guarded secret. Lower ranking members of the party and even the Vietnamese were not told of it and neither was the membership until many years later. The party leadership endorsed armed struggle against the government, then led by Sihanouk. In 1968, the Khmer Rouge was officially formed, and its forces launched a national insurgency across Cambodia. Though North Vietnam had not been informed of
17818-595: The party's own ranks, as senior CPK figures of non-Khmer ethnicity were removed from the leadership despite extensive revolutionary experience and were often killed. A Vietnamese official called the Khmer Rouge leaders "Hitlerite-fascists", while the General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party , Pen Sovan , referred to the Khmer Rouge as a "draconian, dictatorial and fascist regime". The Khmer Rouge's economic policy, which
17969-444: The propagation of the policy of autarky . He was reportedly impressed with the self-sufficient manner in which the mountain tribes of Cambodia lived, which the party believed was a form of primitive communism . Khmer Rouge theory developed the concept that the nation should take "agriculture as the basic factor and use the fruits of agriculture to build industry". In 1975, Khmer Rouge representatives to China said that Pol Pot's belief
18120-524: The proper functioning of civic functions, such as elections. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations was created in 1992 to assist this increased demand for such missions. By and large, the new operations were successful. In El Salvador and Mozambique , for example, peacekeeping provided ways to achieve self-sustaining peace. Some efforts failed, perhaps as the result of an overly optimistic assessment of what UN peacekeeping could accomplish. While complex missions in Cambodia and Mozambique were ongoing,
18271-451: The reform process have been continued and revitalised by the DPKO in its "Peace Operations 2010" reform agenda. This included an increase in personnel, the harmonization of the conditions of service of field and headquarters staff, the development of guidelines and standard operating procedures, and improving the partnership arrangement between the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and
18422-407: The regime of Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot, who rose to the leadership of the communist movement in the 1960s, attended a technical high school in the capital and then went to Paris in 1949 to study radio electronics (other sources say he attended a school for fax machines and also studied civil engineering). Described by one source as a "determined, rather plodding organizer", Pol Pot failed to obtain
18573-411: The senior command team is selected. The department will then seek contributions from member nations. Since the UN has no standing force or supplies, it must form ad hoc coalitions for every task undertaken. Doing so results in both the possibility of failure to form a suitable force, and a general slowdown in procurement once the operation is in the field. Roméo Dallaire , force commander in Rwanda during
18724-415: The status of lay peasantry as the agricultural work they were allocated to involved regular breaches of monastic rules. While there is evidence of widespread vandalism of Buddhist monasteries, many more than were initially thought survived the Khmer Rouge years in fair condition, as did most Khmer historical monuments, and it is possible that stories of their near-total destruction were propaganda issued by
18875-424: The successor People's Republic of Kampuchea. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that nearly 25,000 Buddhist monks were killed by the regime. The repression of Islam (practised by the country's Cham minority) was extensive. Islamic religious leaders were executed, although some Cham Muslims appear to have been told they could continue devotions in private as long as it did not interfere with work quotas. Mat Ly,
19026-474: The supply of medicine, led to the death of many thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria . The Khmer Rouge regime murdered hundreds of thousands of their perceived political opponents, and its racist emphasis on national purity resulted in the genocide of Cambodian minorities. Summary executions and torture were carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during genocidal purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978. Ultimately,
19177-549: The survival of the Cambodian state, which had historically been liquidated during periods of Vietnamese and Siamese intervention. The spillover of Vietnamese fighters from the Vietnamese–American War further aggravated anti-Vietnamese sentiments: the Khmer Republic under Lon Nol , overthrown by the Khmer Rouge, had promoted Mon-Khmer nationalism and was responsible for several anti-Vietnamese pogroms during
19328-458: The symbolism and language of Cambodian Buddhism so that many revolutionary slogans mimicked the formulae learned by young monks during their training. Some cadres who had previously been monks interpreted their change of vocation as a simple movement from a lower to a higher religion, mirroring attitudes around the growth of Cao Dai in the 1920s. Buddhist laity seem not to have been singled out for persecution, although traditional belief in
19479-545: The system" by joining the Sangkum and by accepting posts in the prince's government. In late September 1960, twenty-one leaders of the KPRP held a secret congress in a vacant room of the Phnom Penh railroad station. This pivotal event remains shrouded in mystery because its outcome has become an object of contention and considerable historical rewriting between pro-Vietnamese and anti-Vietnamese Khmer communist factions. The question of cooperation with, or resistance to, Sihanouk
19630-440: The totalitarian theory in favor of a bottom-up perspective, which emphasises that the peasants did not have revolutionary ambitions. According to this perspective, the Khmer Rouge was able to effectively manipulate the peasants to mobilise them towards collective goals that they did not understand, or where the revolutionaries had no desire to create a new society, which would require a certain level of support and understanding that
19781-399: The urban proletariat as the bulwark of revolution, its emphasis on Great Leap Forward -type initiatives, its desire to abolish personal interest in human behaviour, its promotion of communal living and eating, and its focus on perceived common sense over technical knowledge—appear to have been heavily influenced by Maoist ideology; however, the Khmer Rouge displayed these characteristics in
19932-464: The world, all member states of the UN should make available to the Security Council necessary armed forces and facilities. Since 1948, almost 130 nations have contributed military and civilian police personnel to peace operations. While detailed records of all personnel who have served in peacekeeping missions since 1948 are not available, it is estimated that as many as one million soldiers, police officers and civilians have served as UN peacekeepers during
20083-517: Was Son Ngoc Minh , and a third of its leadership consisted of members of the ICP. According to the historian David P. Chandler, the leftist Issarak groups aided by the Viet Minh occupied a sixth of Cambodia's territory by 1952, and on the eve of the Geneva Conference in 1954, they controlled as much as one half of the country. In 1951, the ICP was reorganized into three national units, namely
20234-468: Was chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary. Samouth's allies Nuon Chea and Keo Meas were removed from the Central Committee and replaced by Son Sen and Vorn Vet . From then on, Pol Pot and loyal comrades from his Paris student days controlled the party centre, edging out older veterans whom they considered excessively pro-Vietnamese. In July 1963, Pol Pot and most of
20385-636: Was coined by King Norodom Sihanouk and it was later adopted by English speakers (in the form of the corrupted version Khmer Rouge). It was used to refer to a succession of communist parties in Cambodia which evolved into the Communist Party of Kampuchea and later the Party of Democratic Kampuchea . Its military was known successively as the Kampuchean Revolutionary Army and the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea . Since
20536-565: Was demoted in the state presidium, was later presented as an attempted pro-Vietnamese coup by the Party Center. Over the next two years, So Phim, Nhim Ros, Vorn Vet and many other figures who had been associated with the pre-1960 party were arrested and executed. Phim's execution was followed by that of the majority of the cadres and much of the population of the Eastern Zone that he had controlled. The Party Centre, lacking much in
20687-638: Was extensive destruction in Mali. In this matter, the protection of a country's cultural heritage was included in the mandate of a United Nations mission (Resolution 2100) for the first time in history. In addition to many other advances, Italy signed an agreement with UNESCO in February 2016 to create the world's first emergency task force for culture, composed of civilian experts and the Italian Carabinieri. The UN peace mission UNIFIL (together with Blue Shield International ) in 2019 sought to protect
20838-874: Was followed by other more ambitious transitional administrations in Kosovo (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, or UNMIK ) and East Timor (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, or UNTAET ). That period resulted, in part, in the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission , which works to implement stable peace through some of the same civic functions that peacekeepers also work on, such as elections. The commission currently works with six countries, all in Africa. The UN Peacekeeping's commitment to protecting cultural heritage dates back to 2012, when there
20989-490: Was formed by Ieng Sary, who was granted amnesty for his role as the deputy leader of the Khmer Rouge. The organisation was largely dissolved by the mid-1990s and finally surrendered completely in 1999. In 2014, two Khmer Rouge leaders, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, were jailed for life by a United Nations-backed court which found them guilty of crimes against humanity for their roles in the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign. The term Khmers rouges , French for red Khmers ,
21140-492: Was highly autocratic , totalitarian , and repressive . Many deaths resulted from the regime's social engineering policies and the "Moha Lout Plaoh", an imitation of China's Great Leap Forward which had caused the Great Chinese Famine . The Khmer Rouge's attempts at agricultural reform through collectivization similarly led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, including
21291-540: Was in power, some communist regimes, such as Vietnam, saw it as a Maoist deviation from orthodox Marxism . According to author Rebecca Gidley, the Khmer Rouge "almost immediately erred by implementing a Maoist doctrine rather than following the Marxist–Leninist prescriptions." The Maoist and Khmer Rouge belief that human willpower could overcome material and historical conditions was strongly at odds with mainstream Marxism, which emphasised historical materialism and
21442-453: Was largely based on the plans of Khieu Samphan , focused on the achievement of national self-reliance through an initial phase of agricultural collectivism . This would then be used as a route to achieve rapid social transformation and industrial and technological development without assistance from foreign powers, a process which the party characterised as a "Super Great Leap Forward". The party's General Secretary Pol Pot strongly influenced
21593-558: Was negligible. Viet Minh units occasionally made forays into Cambodian bases during their war against the French and in conjunction with the leftist government that ruled Thailand until 1947. The Viet Minh encouraged the formation of armed, left-wing Khmer Issarak bands. On 17 April 1950, the first nationwide congress of the Khmer Issarak groups convened, and the United Issarak Front was established. Its leader
21744-421: Was not tolerated, the relationship of the CPK to the majority Cambodian Theravada Buddhism was complex; several key figures in its history such as Tou Samouth and Ta Mok were former monks, along with many lower level cadres, who often proved some of the strictest disciplinarians. While there was extreme harassment of Buddhist institutions, there was a tendency for the CPK regime to internalise and reconfigure
21895-404: Was particularly impressed by the lecture on political purge by Kang Sheng . This experience had enhanced his prestige when he returned to the WPK's "liberated areas". Despite friendly relations between Sihanouk and the Chinese, the latter kept Pol Pot's visit a secret from Sihanouk. In September 1966, the WPK changed its name to the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). The change in the name of
22046-432: Was removed from power in 1979 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia and quickly destroyed most of its forces. The Khmer Rouge then fled to Thailand, whose government saw them as a buffer force against the Communist Party of Vietnam . The Khmer Rouge continued to fight against the Vietnamese and the government of the new People's Republic of Kampuchea until the end of the war in 1989. The Cambodian governments-in-exile (including
22197-434: Was shaped by a power struggle during 1976 in which the so-called Party Centre led by Pol Pot defeated other regional elements of its leadership. The Party Centre's ideology combined elements of Communism with a strongly xenophobic form of Khmer nationalism . Partly because of its secrecy and changes in how it presented itself, academic interpretations of its political position vary widely, ranging from interpreting it as
22348-465: Was split between the state presidium headed by Khieu Samphan, the cabinet headed by Pol Pot (who was also Democratic Kampuchea's prime minister) and the party's own Politburo and Central Committee. All were complicated by a number of political factions which existed in 1975. The leadership of the Party Centre, the faction which was headed by Pol Pot, remained largely unchanged from the early 1960s to
22499-465: Was supported by other Arab nations. When a ceasefire was declared in 1957, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs (and future Prime Minister) Lester Bowles Pearson suggested that the United Nations station a peacekeeping force in the Suez in order to ensure that the ceasefire was honored by both sides. Pearson had initially suggested that the force consist of mainly Canadian peacekeepers , but
22650-427: Was that the collectivisation of agriculture was capable of "[creating] a complete communist society without wasting time on the intermediate steps". Society was accordingly classified into peasant "base people" ( ប្រជាជនមូលដ្ឋាន prâchéachôn mulôdthan ), who would be the bulwark of the transformation; and urban "new people" ( ប្រជាជនថ្មី prâchéachôn thmei ), who were to be reeducated or liquidated. The focus of
22801-540: Was thoroughly discussed. Tou Samouth, who advocated a policy of cooperation, was elected general secretary of the KPRP that was renamed the Workers' Party of Kampuchea (WPK). His ally Nuon Chea , also known as Long Reth, became deputy general secretary, but Pol Pot and Ieng Sary were named to the Political Bureau to occupy the third and the fifth highest positions in the renamed party's hierarchy. The name change
#55944