The Carter Paradox: human rights, the Cambodian genocide and China, 1977-1979
Loading...
Citations
Altmetric:
Altmetric::
Download
Associated Records
Authors
File Licence
Editors
Date
2014
Source Title
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Melbourne Authors
Affiliation
School of Historical and Philosophical Studies
Document Type
Honours thesis
Subject Code
Citation
Access Status
Only available to University of Melbourne staff and students, login required
DOI
Access URL
Open Access URL
Open Access at PMC
Linked Resource URL
NHMRC Grant Code
ARC Grant Code
Description
© 2014 Jacqueline Loh
Abstract
In scale of lives lost, the genocide in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 has been recognised as one of the most violent crimes of the twentieth century. Censuses taken by the Cambodian Genocide Project indicate that 1.7 to 2.2 million people out of a total population of 8 million lost their lives, amongst which nearly a million citizens were intentionally murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime. Against the backdrop of Pol Pot’s brutal killing campaigns in 1977, Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States. Although President Carter announced his commitment to advance the cause of international human rights, human rights abuses in Cambodia hardly entered the considerations of his administration’s foreign policy. In fact, Cambodia did not matter much to the administration as there were no economic interests at stake. Crucially, however, human rights considerations in Cambodia were subordinated to the administration’s Cold War geostrategic imperatives of strengthening relations with China.
Notes
Terms of Use
Keywords
Carter, genocide, Cambodia, China