Cambodia’s Curse
The Modern History of a Troubled Land
September 2012
Trade Paperback · 416 Pages
$17.99 U.S. · $21.00 CAN · £11.99 U.K. · €12.99 E.U.
ISBN 9781610391832
PublicAffairs
Trade Paperback · 416 Pages
$17.99 U.S. · $21.00 CAN · £11.99 U.K. · €12.99 E.U.
ISBN 9781610391832
PublicAffairs
Recommended for These Courses
- Area Studies: Asian Studies
- Asian Studies: Southeast Asia
- International Relations: Fascism and Totalitarianism
- International Relations: Political Theory and History
- Political Science: Fascism and Totalitarianism
- Political Science: General
- Political Science: Political Theory and History
- Sociology: General
- Sociology: Social Conflict
- Sociology: Social Movements
- Sociology: Violence in Society
Description
A generation after the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia shows every sign of having overcome its history—the streets of Phnom Penh are paved; skyscrapers dot the skyline. But under this façade lies a country still haunted by its years of terror.
Joel Brinkley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Cambodia on the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime that killed one quarter of the nation's population during its years in power. In 1992, the world came together to help pull the small nation out of the mire. Cambodia became a United Nations protectorate—the first and only time the UN tried something so ambitious. What did the new, democratically-elected government do with this unprecedented gift?
In 2008 and 2009, Brinkley returned to Cambodia to find out. He discovered a population in the grip of a venal government. He learned that one-third to one-half of Cambodians who lived through the Khmer Rouge era have P.T.S.D.—and its afflictions are being passed to the next generation. His extensive close-up reporting in Cambodia's Curse illuminates the country, its people, and the deep historical roots of its modern-day behavior.
Joel Brinkley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Cambodia on the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime that killed one quarter of the nation's population during its years in power. In 1992, the world came together to help pull the small nation out of the mire. Cambodia became a United Nations protectorate—the first and only time the UN tried something so ambitious. What did the new, democratically-elected government do with this unprecedented gift?
In 2008 and 2009, Brinkley returned to Cambodia to find out. He discovered a population in the grip of a venal government. He learned that one-third to one-half of Cambodians who lived through the Khmer Rouge era have P.T.S.D.—and its afflictions are being passed to the next generation. His extensive close-up reporting in Cambodia's Curse illuminates the country, its people, and the deep historical roots of its modern-day behavior.
About the Author
Joel Brinkley, a professor of journalism at Stanford University, is a twenty-three-year veteran of the New York Times. He has worked in more than fifty nations and writes a nationally syndicated op-ed column on foreign policy. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1980 and was twice a finalist for an investigative reporting Pulitzer in the following years. This is his fifth book.