Ending the Forever War: Vietnam and the Cambodia Conflict 1986-1991 Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

While many studies have been devoted to the Vietnam War (1955-1975), few have been written in English about the Cambodia Conflict (1978-1991) that followed. Pulling from hundreds of period documents from both Vietnam and Cambodia, the body of this opus explores how Vietnam experienced and influenced the end of the Cold War in Southeast Asia. Through this research, the author brings Western understandings of the end of widespread fighting in Southeast Asia up to the more contemporarily relevant context of 1991, rather than where English-language histories typically taper off, in 1975. This paper introduces a truly Southeast Asian perspective on the key assumptions in modern Southeast Asian international relations into English-language literature, with the aim of more effectively nuancing Western discussions of the region going forward.

This study presents three main arguments: (1) The Cambodia Conflict was the foundational event of modern Southeast Asian geopolitics. With this conflict’s conclusion, a half-century of war in Southeast Asia ended. Vietnam’s declining foreign ambitions, somewhat paralleling the decline of its Soviet patron, meant that by 1991 China, ASEAN, and the US were no longer tied together by the threat of common enemies. Consequently, the region has transitioned from being a Sino-Soviet battleground to harboring less violent political jockeying between the US and China in the 21^st century. (2) Vietnam’s withdrawal from Cambodia in 1989 was the turning point in the Cambodia Conflict. As a result of ASEAN and the US having achieved this primary objective, the international focus of the conflict shifted from ‘stopping Vietnam’ to ‘stopping the Khmer Rouge’. (3) Exiting the Cambodia Conflict allowed Vietnam to transition from maintaining a foremost ideological (Communist) identity to a foremost regional Southeast Asian identity. As a result of its withdrawal from Cambodia, Vietnam was able to escape its international isolation and exit its alliance with the USSR. By embracing a comparatively politically amorphous Southeast Asian identity, Vietnam gained the flexibility to both adopt a realpolitik foreign policy and introduce free market economic reforms.

Table of Contents

Introduction - 1

Chapter 1: The Origins of the Cambodia Conflict (1975-78) - 7

Chapter 2: Vietnam’s Occupation of Cambodia during the Fall of the USSR (1986) - 20

Chapter 3: Reforms and Withdrawals (1987-1989) - 33

Chapter 4: Building the Peace (1990-1991) -  48

Conclusion: Cambodia and Vietnam are dragged into the Post-Cold War World -  61

Appendix: Naming Conventions - 73

Glossary - 75

Bibliography - 76

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Political Science, International Law and Relations History, Asia, Australia and Oceania History, Military
Keyword	Doi Moi Southeast Asia Vietnam Cambodia Conflict China Khmer Rouge Hun Sen
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Payne, Matthew , Emory University
Committee Members	Allitt, Patrick , Emory University Atshan, Sa'ed , Emory University

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