Hun Manet

Rule Changes

In office since August 2023

Hun Sen arrested Kem Sokha in 2017, dissolved his party, then watched his own party win every parliamentary seat. On Sunday, acting as Cambodia's head of state, Hun Sen pardoned Sokha and ended a 27-year treason sentence.

Updated May 25

Force in Play

Leading Cambodia's scam crackdown

For five years, Southeast Asia's scam compounds operated with near-impunity, generating an estimated $75 billion while trafficking hundreds of thousands of workers into forced labor. Then a Chinese actor got kidnapped in January 2025, and Beijing decided it had seen enough. Within twelve months, China extradited scam kingpins from Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar and sentenced crime family leaders to death. Beijing pressured regional governments into coordinated enforcement, transforming a tolerated nuisance into an existential threat.

Updated May 21

Force in Play

Leading Cambodia's war effort and ceasefire negotiations

A Cambodian soldier died in a border firefight on May 28, and within two months, the countries were exchanging artillery fire and airstrikes across a dozen locations. Three ceasefires—brokered by Malaysia, pressured by Trump, and witnessed by ASEAN—have left over 100 dead and a million displaced, yet the December 27 truce may fail like the others.

Updated May 16

Force in Play

Commanding Cambodian side of escalating border war with Thailand

Thailand's prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, dissolved parliament barely three months into his term. He called a snap election while Thai troops trade artillery fire with Cambodia along an 800-kilometre border.

Updated May 15

Force in Play

Signed December 27 ceasefire after Cambodia reported over 30 civilian deaths in December fighting

A new ceasefire signed on December 27 has brought an uneasy pause to three weeks of fighting that killed more than 100 people and sent over half a million fleeing from their homes. Thai airstrikes, Cambodian rocket barrages, and artillery duels scorched the 817‑kilometer frontier after combat reignited on December 8, shattering Trump‑brokered peace deals from July and October.

Updated May 11

Force in Play

Leads Cambodian government during 2025 border clashes

In 2025, a long-simmering territorial dispute along the 817 km Thailand–Cambodia border reignited after a May 28 clash near Preah Vihear killed a Cambodian soldier. The incident sparked a five-day July war—at least 48 dead, about 300,000 displaced—that ended when Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim brokered a ceasefire.

Updated May 10