1995-10-01a- CIA Conference Report: THE CHALLENGE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER IN THE 1990S GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES 01-Oct-95

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Cambodia-Vietnam. Cambodia remains a cause for rights, and assures land title to upland farmers, the
major concern. Once the greatest of precolonial Laos-China border area may become a new develop-
nation-states in Southeast Asia, the kingdom of the ment growth pole in the future. Failure to carefully
Khmer has been in decline for many centuries, victim- negotiate the mutual interests of the government in
ized by cohesive and stronger Thai and Vietnamese Vientiane and minority highlands in the north could
forces and by an unusually fractious elite. The enmity ignite further conflict between the lowland Lao and
expressed by Cambodians toward their Vietnamese the Hmong, Mien, and Lao in this sensitive border
neighbors courses deep and is widely shared among region.
the populace. The Cambodians feel that Vietnam is
determined to swallow up what remains of their cul- Ideological Conflicts
ture and country-much as ancient Vietnam destroyed Of the five Leninist regimes current functioning in
the coastal kingdom of Champa in 1471 (Tarling, today's world-China, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, and
1992; 156). In the past Cambodian demagogues have Vietnam-two are situated in Southeast Asia. What-
manipulated such sentiments to their own ends. ever the threat of-the expansion of Communism may
Anti-Vietnamese pogroms have facilitated the careers have been in the past, it is certainly clear that this
of Lon Nol and Pol Pot; anti-Vietnamese rhetoric has threat does not exist in Southeast Asia today. Laos, a
been consistently employed during the recent UN- workers' state with precious few industrial workers,
supervised election campaign. At present, it seems as generates most of its meager foreign. income by sell-
if the long internal nightmare of Cambodia is coming ing electricity to Thailand. Overseeing the poorest,
to an end. If things go wrong, however, violence least developed, most remote country in Southeast
directed against the Vietnamese minority in Cambodia Asia, the present and previous Lao administrations
and along the CambodianVietnamese border could have experienced considerable difficulty in governing
again arise. their highly diverse populations, much less in interfer-
ing in the affairs of other nations. Vietnam is clearly in
Laos-China. A final border area of some interest is the process of reintegrating itself into the East Asian
that which divides Laos and China. At present this economy. Vietnam is receiving considerable foreign
area is calm and hopefully will remain so. During the investment, manages its infrastructure with demon-
Indochina conflict, China, the USSR, and the Pathet strable talent in the face of meager resources, and
Lao worked closely together. Despite the efforts of the shows every indication of an economic recovery from
United States, aided by its tribal allies in the moun- the policy disasters of 15 years ago (Jamieson, 1993;
tains of Xieng Khuang and Nam Tha in northern Laos, 373). In sum, the end of ideology as a factor in
Communist forces consistently advanced, supplied national conflict can clearly be perceived in Southeast
overland by Chinese trucks. After 1975 Laos quickly Asia today. But this situation hardly portends "the end
was drawn into Vietnam's political orbit. As a satellite of history," about which so much has been written in
state hosting some 40,000 Vietnamese troops, Laos recent years. Indeed, it is the burden of history, and
after 1979 expressed the same hostility towards China not of ideology, which has driven the ethnic enmities,
as did Vietnam. Vietnam responded by arming and national disputes, and international conflicts that have
training highland rebels. Indeed, many tribal guerrillas beset this region during the current century.
who formerly had fought for the United States now
rallied to a cause supported by Beijing. China's sup-
port for such movements has ceased, and currently Conclusion
significant efforts are underway to develop a trade and
communications infrastructure that will link south- Given the expanse and complexity of the Southeast
west China to the sea through Laos and Vietnam. Asian geographical region it would be impossible to
Tibal rebels these days operate, as far as is known, recount all the past, present, and possible ethnic
without the support of-any major government, distinctions, rivalries, and disputes in this region. I
financed by opium sales and by fund transfers from have mentioned a few areas of-concern and noted that
relatives in the United States. If the Vientiane govern-
ment demonstrates interest in assuring development
equity for the highlands, respects minority cultural
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