@ktravouillon.bsky.social & Prof Nick Lemay-Hébert’s new article published in the @ejir.bsky.social revises IPT’s dismissive stance on document analysis, analysing a unique archive of 835 Khmer-language letters sent by Cambodians to Radio UNTAC in 1993.
Read here➡️: quicklink.anu.edu.au/m4u4
Those of you interested in the details of the archival research process can consult the published supplementary materials with additional information on my work with several original UNTAC archives and collections.
The archival research provides new perspectives on the Cambodian people’s lived experiences during the intervention, while also illuminating the implications of archives in the enabling and justification of dominant intervention practices.
The article brings IPT in conversation with Critical Archival Studies (CAS) – a body of scholarship grounded in a relational and dynamic ontology of archives and committed to analyses of their embeddedness in politics and power relations.
New Article! 🔓⏰ Nicolas Lemay-Hébert and I aim to contribute to a revision of IPT's dismissive stance towards document analysis. We present an in-depth analysis of a unique archival collection of 835 Khmer-language letters the Cambodian people sent to Radio UNTAC in 1993. 📜
doi.org/10.1177/1354...
The United States, on behalf of Israel, is now putting significant resources into sending out teams of masked men to arrest students who have protested or written about the genocide in Gaza. Is the US-based International Studies Association @isanet.bsky.social still too coy to say anything?
What role do transnational factors play in the decline of democracy in mainland Southeast Asia? Here I argue that its wrong to look only at China. Instead, we should note that Mekong states and their security forces put regime security ahead of traditional concerns. Article is free to download.
After the grant was terminated by the federal government, RFA Khmer no longer broadcasts its full show but instead news briefs.
The latest Element in Politics & Society in SE Asia is out: Diana Kim's "Rethinking Colonial Legacies across SE Asia"! Kim explores the significance & legacies of Japan's WWII occupation of SE Asia for understanding colonial legacies. Download FREE through 2 April.
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
This is mostly a LinkedIn thing, but getting a little tired of people arguing it's time to have a "conversation" on "reimagining" foreign assistance when there are literally thousands of people dying right now.
"My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law."
300 Gazans killed by Israeli air strikes. The direct genocidal violence ramps up again with impunity www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
For over 80 years, Voice of America delivered news to countries—many under authoritarian rule—where reliable information was scarce. Now, those broadcasts, once a vital tool for promoting democracy and transparency, are fading away.
BREAKING—The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) office was just on lockdown for close to an hour while members of the DOGE team tried to enter the building, multiple people have told me. Security has now escorted out remaining staffers who’ve been told to telework until further notice.
The threat of a border wall is an effort by Bangkok, goaded by China, to cajole Phnom Penh into doing more to clamp down on its vast cyber scam industry,
While relocating to Bangkok (thanks to the Cambodian government) I've not had chance to share the stories that I've been reading in between trying to assemble furniture, calm two antsy cats and adapt to a whole new country, culture and language on the fly.
Here's a rundown of what caught my eye:
Thai authorities have arrested and charged 100 Thai nationals for their involvement in transnational call center scams operating from Cambodia.
Since 2024, Cambodian authorities have cracked down on 18 illegal online sites and arrested 3,724 foreigners of 16 nationalities.
CAMBODIA: Huione Pay, the banking arm of what’s been called world’s ‘largest ever illicit online marketplace,’ stripped of banking license by National Bank of Cambodia for noncompliance, writes @jackadamovicdavies.bsky.social for RFA. www.rfa.org/english/camb...
NEW ARTICLE: Surreal to be worrying about SE Asian authoritarianism currently.
But it should be understood on its own terms.
Open access and part of a forthcoming SI edited by Aim Sinpeng and I on Thailand's 2023 election.
@anubellschool.bsky.social
dx.doi.org/10.1177/1868...
Per Dr Atul Gawande, ex USAID: “All malaria supplies protecting 53 million people, mostly children, including bed nets, diagnostics, preventive drugs, and treatments – terminated.”
There are no words that sufficiently describe this level of cruelty and sadism.
Following crackdowns on the Thailand-Myanmar border cyber-scams, China's Assistant Minister for Public Security Liu Zhongyi met leaders in Cambodia to increase cooperation against call-center fraud and human trafficking.
Future Southeast Asia Newsletter No. 254:
- Visiting Cambodia's coastal casino city
- Bali overdevelopment
- Rebuilding a former CIA airport in Laos
- Selangor railway
- Proposed merger of Bangkok bus terminals,
- Hanoi Metro Line 5
news.futuresoutheastasia.com/p/26-februar...
Call for papers! We are inviting scholars working on public opinion manipulation through social media in SEA to gather in Undip, Semarang in august, to discuss recent findings & steps forward. Do send your abstract by 15 April.
www.kitlv.nl/news/online-...
Glad to see I'm in good company with my doubts about the utility of a Code of Conduct in the #SouthChinaSea! cc: @susannahpatton.bsky.social @channelnewsasia.bsky.social: www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/asean-c...
Cambodia reports a new human death from H5N1 bird flu.
CAMBODIA/CHINA: Liu Zhongyi, assistant public security minister China assigned to lead its scam crackdown visited Cambodia today with sizable delegation. This month his visits to Myanmar & Thailand were followed by massive & ongoing border crackdown. 1/2 freshnewsasia.com/index.php/en...
the cover of my book, Authoritarians in the Academy
AUTHORITARIANS IN THE ACADEMY, out Aug 19.
I'm thrilled to share that my book about transnational repression in higher ed—and the ways critics of authoritarian regimes face censorship and threats on campus—is available for pre-order with @hopkinspress.bsky.social.
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
