ABSTRACT
Cambodia in the 1960s was an obscure nation of about seven million people, eighth largest in Southeast Asia. It was noted mainly for its magnificent Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom temple complexes, legacies of the bygone Khmer Empire, and its flam boyant quasi-monarch, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, a legacy of the French colonial period. An exporter of rice and rubber, the nation enjoyed the region’s fourth highest per capita income level, and under the prince’s paternalistic leadership the national stan dards of education and health care rose visibly, as did the number of public works projects. The Chinese, Vietnamese, and Loeu hill tribesmen that made up 15 percent of the population lived in rela tive harmony with the dominant Khmers (Cambodians). And the prince’s well publicized policy of neutrality kept Cambodia out of the destructive conflicts that characterized its neighbors Laos and South Vietnam during the decade.
