ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Cambodia’s alignment politics with great powers. In other words, it attempts to entertain a question: If not China, which major powers can Cambodia rely upon? To this end, this chapter highlights Cambodia’s relations with four major powers, namely Japan, the US, France and Russia. It argues that Phnom Penh has tried to embark upon foreign policy diversification. However, Cambodia’s alignment with other major powers is limited. Among the four major powers mentioned earlier, Cambodia has placed its bet only on Japan through the establishment of Cambodia-Japan strategic partnership in 2013. Moreover, Cambodia’s strategic configurations towards China and Japan carry different weight in favour of the former due to the perception in Phnom Penh that Tokyo’s military and strategic role in the region is limited.
