hun manet phd thesis

• Environment
• The Weekly Dispatch
• Support The Daily

In Search of Hun Manet’s Bristol University PhD Thesis

In 2009, Cambodia’s new prime minister was awarded a doctorate in economics – but it is nearly impossible to access his thesis.

The PhD thesis written by Hun Manet, who took over as Cambodian prime minister from his father Hun Sen last month, is harder to obtain than you might think.

Hun Manet was awarded a PhD by Bristol University in the U.K. in 2009 for his dissertation entitled, “What determines the firm size distribution and structural integration? A cross-county study.”

The thesis supervisor Jonathan Temple, who has since left the university, told me that the work was an econometric study of firm-size distribution measuring the relative importance of small and medium-sized companies across different countries. It was not, Temple added, specifically about Cambodia. The role of the supervisor is to oversee the progress of the research, and in no case would a supervisor be among the examiners who decide whether a PhD is awarded.

In full: https://thediplomat.com/2023/09/in-search-of-hun-manets-bristol-university-phd-thesis/

Related Stories

Another cambodian opposition leader arrested, cambodian opposition chief arrested after returning from japan, yoon, cambodian pm to hold summit in seoul this week, latest news, cambodia eyes sez for south korean investors, designer eric raisina: the emperor of silk, indians pulled into cambodia cryptocurrency scam demand more local jobs as ‘quick money dream’ sours, china and cambodia begin 15-day military exercises as questions grow about beijing’s influence, human rights group urges thailand to stop forcing dissidents to return home.

The biggest news shaping Cambodia delivered to your inbox every Friday at 11:30am.

Usip calls myanmar, cambodia and laos a growing global threat, china and cambodia to begin annual military exercise to strengthen cooperation, fight terrorism, a top cambodian opposition politician is charged with inciting disorder for criticizing government, impacts of cambodia’s funan techo canal and implications for mekong cooperation, popular posts, cambodia’s ‘lords’ form union under hun sen ahead of polls, un chief implicitly criticizes cambodia’s upcoming elections after top opposition party ban, foreign ministry says anwar unaware of cambodian opposition figure’s entry, cambodia disqualifies main opposition party ahead of election, sea games 2023: it’s time to party, cambodia, popular categories.

• Business 3091
• Politics 2816
• Today’s Top News 1606
• Health 1366
• Lifestyle 1253
• In Brief 950
• Environment 944

The Cambodia Daily is an independent non-profit digital news service for Cambodia and Cambodians.

Contact us: editor at cambodiadaily dot com

© 2024 The Cambodia Daily LLC

• Support The Cambodia Daily
• Weekly Dispatch

Never see this again.

Microfinance and the Politics of Development

An Open Letter to Cambodia’s Hun Manet About His PhD Thesis

The UK's Bristol University has asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet for permission to digitise his PhD thesis completed in 2009. Hun Manet has said publicly that he will release the thesis on request, but so far hasn't taken any steps to do so.

Thanks for reading Microfinance and Development! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

My open letter to Hun Manet appears in The Diplomat .

An Open Letter to Cambodia’s Hun Manet About His PhD Thesis – The Diplomat

Ready for more?

University of Bristol graduate Hun Manet set to become Cambodia's next prime minister

He has been appointed as the next leader of the country's dominant political party

• 14:26, 29 DEC 2021

Sign up to our daily newsletter for the latest local and breaking news in Bristol.

We have more newsletters

A University of Bristol graduate is set to become the next prime minister of Cambodia.

Hun Manet was officially appointed to succeed his father, Hun Sen, as the next leader of the country's main political party after a vote last week, the Guardian reported.

The Cambodian People’s party (CPP), which holds every parliamentary seat in the South East Asian country, voted unanimously for the 44-year-old to become the next head of the party.

READ MORE: Bristol expects 'Welsh invasion' on New Year's Eve as covid rules divide nations

In 2017, the main opposition party was dissolved by the country's supreme court amid accusations of a plot to overthrow the government, a move which critics called the "end of true democracy" in Cambodia.

However, it means that Hun Manet will almost definitely be Cambodia's next prime minister.

Hun Manet graduated with a doctorate in economics at the University of Bristol in 2008 . His dissertation was published in 2009 and can be found on the university's website .

His father has said that he intends to stay in power for another 10 years, so it is unclear when Hun Manet will take over from him.

He has been “groomed to succeed his father who has ruled the country for more than three decades using a combination of corruption and repression”, according to Dr Lee Morgenbesser, a senior lecturer at Griffith University’s school of government and international relations in Australia.

He told the Guardian that “while there will be a temptation to label Hun Manet as some sort of progressive or reformer, he has done nothing to deserve the benefit of the doubt”.

“He is merely the next dictator,” he says. “Since returning from the United States … he has been busy cultivating support within the CPP, winning the backing of the security apparatus, building ties with the business community, and helping to eliminate the political opposition. This should tell us all we need to know.”

In Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index, Cambodia is ranked at 160 out of 180 countries.

However, Kheang Un, professor of political science at Northern Illinois University, said Hun Manet is seen as a “clean politician” and that he "is known to be well educated, competent, down to earth, and friendly".

Get the best stories about the things you love most curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love here

• University of Bristol
• Most Recent

• Technologies
• Entertainment

The Debate | Opinion

Despite repeated requests, Bristol University has refused to release the Cambodian leader’s doctoral thesis in economics.

Prime Minister Dr. Hun Manet,

At present, your PhD thesis, completed at Bristol University in 2009, sits gathering dust on a shelf in a library building in southwest Britain.

No one reads it and no one is allowed to photocopy it. Neither is it possible to transfer it to any other academic library. The thesis is literally kept under lock and key.

In early August, I made a request to the university under British freedom of information legislation to be allowed to make a copy of your thesis. Unpublished academic theses can be released under British law if this is deemed to be in the public interest. Given your position as prime minister of a least developed country, the public interest grounds for releasing your research, which I understand concerns small and medium-sized businesses, is clear. For many poor countries, as you know, small business growth is the most realistic engine of mass job creation.

My request was refused by the university. You said in a public speech on November 2 that you are willing to provide your thesis on request. The following day, I received notification from the university that my appeal of their original decision had also been refused.

I have contacted your press office to request a copy of the thesis but have not yet received a reply. Bristol University has contacted you to ask for permission to digitize your thesis, but as yet they don’t have an answer either.

I have relayed the latest decision from the university to your press office, again without reply. With the process of trying to obtain the thesis from the university now exhausted, the only possible further avenue is an appeal to the British government’s Information Commissioner.

There is everything to be gained by making the fruits of your years of research publicly available. This would allow expert public discussion which, in the case of most academic theses, allows knowledge in the subject area to move forward.

The implications of your research for the Cambodian economy could be evaluated and very possibly improved by specialists, including Cambodians, who have devoted their whole working lives to the subject. I hope that you will make it available by any convenient method as soon as possible.

South Korean Court Rules Against Blocking Plan to Increase Medical School Admissions – The Diplomat

‘govtech edu aims to be a strategic partner of the indonesian government, not just a production line’, stalemate in europe: xi jinping’s diplomatic efforts – the diplomat, most popular, the trials and tribulations of being an mlb catcher: bruises, swollen ankles, and broken arms, chief’s kicker harrison butker criticizes pride month as a ‘deadly sin’ in commencement speech, unleashing the potential of vision: how meg whitman’s diplomatic approach is changing africa, in the college football landscape, how do nil agents factor into the player compensation equation, republic of cote d’ivoire joins arab-africa trade bridges program, editor picks, understanding the ftx bankruptcy: a comprehensive examination of the rise and fall of ftx exchange, the rise of basketball’s brightest young star: cooper flagg and his small new england town, homemade gardener’s hand salve recipe for diy enthusiasts, popular posts, 50,000 displaced from myanmar’s paletwa township due to clashes, reports radio free asia, web3 game cornucopias announces expansion to ethereum and launches inaugural node sale on base platform, world cup 2026: fans worried about u.s. visa delays – don’t miss out on your chance, popular category.

• Entertainment 22

© Dlatestscoop.org

Download EAC News App

After Public Call-Out, PM Releases University Theses

• ដោយ Kristen Winters
• Posted Nov 10, 2023 14:26 by Kristen Winters
• type National

PHNOM PENH: On November 8, freelance journalist David Whitehouse published an open letter to Prime Minister Hun Manet, detailing his arduous attempt to get a hold of the PM’s doctoral thesis from his time as an Economics major at the UK’s Bristol University. The journalist said that the thesis was kept “under lock and key” and that multiple attempts through the university and the Prime Minister’s own press office failed to produce the document.

Prime Minister Hun Manet has faced scrutiny about his education in the past, starting with his time at West Point Military Academy, which opposition leader Sam Rainsy said was only made possible because of his father’s position as the Cambodian prime minister. Hun Manet was the first Cambodian to graduate from the prestigious academy in 1999 and said that his acceptance to the school was based on merit, not on connections.

The Prime Minister went on to graduate from New York University with a masters in Economics in 2001, followed by a doctorate from Bristol University in 2009.

Prime Minister Hun Manet responded to the open letter on the same day, providing a free download to his thesis and questioning the journalist’s intentions. He said he did not recall ever asking Bristol University to keep his thesis confidential and claimed that he had given it out to a number of people in the past upon request. He did not mention Mr. Whitehouse’s request to his press office for copies of the thesis.

He finished by linking both his masters and doctoral theses for the public to read. His master’s thesis was on the subject of land rights, while his doctorate focused on the small and medium enterprise sector.

Related News

Pay for Contracted Officials Will Increase in January to 710,000 Riel

Cambodia's Largest Nursery Set to Bloom in Tbong Khmum

PM Presides at Handover of Cambodia’s New Stadium

PM Praises Ministry of Culture for its Efforts to Inscribe "LBokator" on Heritage List

• North Korea
• South China Sea
• Environment
• Asia Fact Check Lab
• Jobs and internships

The making of Hun Manet

Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, who is stepping down later this month after four decades in power, has often suggested he is the reincarnation of a 16 th century king. 

And he occasionally imbues his successor, Hun Manet, with similarly mythical powers. In public speeches and to his biographers, Hun Sen has insisted that blinding light shot out from a centuries-old Banyan tree upon his eldest son’s birth.

“Five hundred people saw the light. That was when Manet was born,” he told the authors of Strongman: The Extraordinary Life of Hun Sen in December 1997. 

The anecdote, with its mythic overtones, seems calculated to portray Hun Manet as destined for the same kingly greatness as his father. But, speaking just four months after he ousted his coalition partners in a bloody coup, Hun Sen went on to tell the biographers that not only did he not want his son to walk the same political tightrope as he had, he did not think then-20-year-old Hun Manet would be well suited to it.

“I would like to be the last member of my family who was involved in politics,” Hun Sen is quoted as saying in Strongman . “I would rather see [Manet] working as an assistant to a politician, helping in national reconstruction, and not become a politician himself. … It seems he is interested in study, in research, in making recommendations rather than doing things himself.”

Hun Manet was appointed prime minister by royal decree on Monday and is poised to be sworn in  on Aug. 22, following last month’s one-sided election.  With the 45-year-old now taking the helm, many Cambodians are wondering what the rare moment of change will mean for the country. He is a trained economist and an experienced general. But as a politician he remains a cipher; and only time will tell whether he has his father’s autocratic tendencies. 

‘An innocent guy’

Those who knew Hun Manet as a young man offer accounts not dissimilar to Hun Sen's. They recall a humble and conscientious youth, mild-mannered almost to the point of timidity and determined to carve out a career for himself in development economics.

Hun Manet enrolled at West Point military academy in 1995, the first Cambodian ever to have done so, and one of fewer than 10 non-U.S. students in a class of more than 900. He struggled initially with communicating in English and was bewildered by cultural phenomena such as hazing, he told his father’s biographers in 2003.

Kevin James, who roomed with Hun Manet for two years, described him as a “tolerant individual who, at the time anyway, didn’t have any presumptions about any one person being different from any other.”

They got on so well their first year that they elected to bunk together again in their second, James told RFA.

“I had zero complaints about living with Manet. He was friendly, and a kind and considerate roommate. He didn’t cause any issues, and he tolerated my smoking in the room,” recalled James, who is now a lieutenant colonel in the 101 st Airborne Division. “He was an innocent guy with no airs, and this is coming from a guy from rural Pennsylvania – I was occasionally shocked at how innocent he was.”

Having gained a bachelor’s degree in economics, Hun Manet continued his studies at New York University. There, he researched whether Cambodia would benefit from land reform for his 2001 master’s thesis. Back home, meanwhile, his father was beginning to parcel out the country to cronies and foreign investors in the form of economic land concessions. By 2014, according to a lawsuit, such ELCs had displaced 6% of the Cambodian population.

As his father’s government continued to enrich its powerful tycoon class at the expense of the poorest, Hun Manet appeared increasingly interested in learning how the world’s worst off can be lifted out of poverty. He took an internship with the World Bank, during which time he was posted to the Congo, according to a Facebook post by Hun Sen. Afterwards, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he undertook a doctorate at Bristol University. 

“He was an able student, always polite and respectful, and hard-working,” his Ph.D. supervisor, Jonathan Temple, told RFA last year, adding that he expressed a desire to work in development economics. “I did not learn about his family background until his studies were well advanced.”

Family values

If his studies brought Hun Manet geographically and perhaps intellectually far from his family, there was little sign that he left their orbit.  

In his second year at N.Y.U., Hun Manet and his then-teenage siblings spent $550,000 on a four-bedroom house in New York’s Long Island suburb, despite the fact that all were unemployed and their father’s official salary was just $12,000 a year. (In the year 2000 when the purchase took place, the house equaled 1,600 times the average annual Cambodian salary.)

In 2006 Hun Manet married Pich Chanmony, the well-connected daughter of a Labor Ministry secretary of state and minister attached to the prime minister . They would go on to have three children. As with his four siblings, whose spouses are the scions of powerful families, Hun Manet’s marriage reflected a growing dynasty intertwining business, politics and personal life. 

In November 2011, Pich Chanmony and the son of tycoon Choeung Sopheap (whose husband is ruling-party senator Lau Ming Kan) incorporated Phnom Penh Toll Way Co. Ltd. Soon after, the company won the $10.5 million contract to renovate and then collect tolls on Veng Sreng Boulevard. 

A month after toll collection started in November 2015, Hun Sen had announced that the government would buy the company out. Today, Pich Chanmony chairs four companies and is on the board of another six, according to the Commerce Ministry registry. 

The battle for Preah Vihear

Any ivory tower dreams Hun Manet might have harbored dissipated shortly after he left Bristol in February 2008. A long-running border dispute with Thailand over the Preah Vihear temple complex boiled over into live fighting in June of the same year. 

The clashes were well timed for Hun Sen, who used them to drum up nationalistic support ahead of the July elections. He also took the opportunity to put his son’s West Point education to the test, placing him in charge of Cambodian forces around the temples, and sending him back when tensions flared again in 2011.

The world took notice. Robert Willard, the U.S. Navy admiral in charge of American forces in the Pacific at the time, told a U.S. congressional committee that by sending Hun Manet to Preah Vihear, Hun Sen appeared to be grooming him as his “heir apparent.”

“This conflict builds Hun Manet’s credentials as a military leader and hero who defended national sovereignty against an external threat,” Willard told the committee.

The boy who would be ‘king’

In the following years, Hun Sen’s sons and sons-in-law took on greater roles in the government and military while his daughters became business magnates, but it was increasingly clear that Hun Manet was indeed being positioned for the top job. 

By 2015, the topic was the focus of a rare interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with signs that the young then-lieutenant general was growing more excited by the prospect.  

After spending most of the conversation quietly trotting out the Cambodian People’s Party line about the dangers of upending the status quo, Hun Manet's mask slipped toward the end. The interviewer first asked him how long his father planned to stick around. A smile broke across his face, and laughing, he chided the interviewer: “Cambodia is a democracy; as long as the people want him to.” 

His smile grew larger when she asked, “If the people want you to, you would be prime minister?” 

“Not no, not yes,” he said.

As speculation around Hun Manet’s future role mounted, he received promotion after promotion, moving rapidly up the military ranks. He spoke rarely with reporters and closely guarded his public image. While other members of his family today have a robust social media presence, showing off expensive watches and private jets, Hun Manet maintains only professional accounts and keeps his children mostly hidden from view. (Requests to Hun Manet for an interview went unanswered.) 

At times, he has shown little tolerance of criticism. In 2016, he complained to the press that he had been met with protests by the Cambodian diaspora wherever he went in Australia.

“Why are they looking down on me, causing divisions and conflicts?” he asked reporters. 

Ou Virak, president of the Phnom Penh think tank Future Forum, said past conversations with Hun Manet left him with the impression that the future premier was sincerely interested in tackling corruption and encouraging development. But along with the premiership, Hun Sen has also bequeathed his son a country whose power structures were forged in violent struggle and are precariously interlocked. Given such an entrenched political system, anything that upsets them could be disastrous for Hun Manet personally.

“At his stage, politics is still a zero-sum game to him, it could be dangerous for his family [to accept change],” he noted. 

Additional reporting by RFA Khmer's Keo Sovannarith. Edited by Abby Seiff

• 24 Cambodian maids rescued in Saudi Arabia return home
• Police arrest 3 Cambodian opposition party members
• Drone footage shows development of mines in northern Cambodia
• Cambodia will not negotiate over Funan Techo canal: Hun Sen
• Cambodia’s Hun Sen hits back at criticism about Funan Techo canal

• New rules let China's state security police check people's devices
• Taiwanese star forced to publicly support 'one China' policy
• Hundreds of Myanmar junta troops surrender near Bangladesh border
• Closed dam in Vietnam is leading to dry river beds in Cambodia
• Myanmar’s ban on overseas male workers worsens Thai labor shortage

• Work & Careers
• Life & Arts

Become an FT subscriber

Try unlimited access Only $1 for 4 weeks

Then $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Cancel anytime during your trial.

• Global news & analysis
• Expert opinion
• Special features
• FirstFT newsletter
• Videos & Podcasts
• Android & iOS app
• FT Edit app
• 10 gift articles per month

Explore more offers.

Standard digital.

• FT Digital Edition

Premium Digital

Print + premium digital, ft professional, weekend print + standard digital, weekend print + premium digital.

Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Pay a year upfront and save 20%.

• Global news & analysis
• Exclusive FT analysis
• FT App on Android & iOS
• FirstFT: the day's biggest stories
• 20+ curated newsletters
• Follow topics & set alerts with myFT
• FT Videos & Podcasts
• 20 monthly gift articles to share
• Lex: FT's flagship investment column
• 15+ Premium newsletters by leading experts
• FT Digital Edition: our digitised print edition
• Weekday Print Edition
• Videos & Podcasts
• Premium newsletters
• 10 additional gift articles per month
• FT Weekend Print delivery
• Everything in Standard Digital
• Everything in Premium Digital

Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Pay a year upfront and save 20%.

• 10 monthly gift articles to share
• Everything in Print
• Make and share highlights
• FT Workspace
• Markets data widget
• Subscription Manager
• Workflow integrations
• Occasional readers go free
• Volume discount

Terms & Conditions apply

Explore our full range of subscriptions.

Why the ft.

See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times.

International Edition

Home Local World Youtube Facebook Chinese (中文) Khmer About WATCH LIVE

PM Hun Manet’s Response to David Whitehouse's Open Letter Requesting PM’s PhD Thesis

Phnom Penh (FN), Nov. 9 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet responded to David Whitehouse's open letter addressed to him requesting for Samdech Thipadei's PhD Thesis (published in the Diplomat magazine, dated 8 November 2023).

Samdech Thipadei wrote on his social media on 8 November 2023.

"Response to David Whitehouse's open letter to me regarding his request for my PhD Thesis (Published in the Diplomat magazine, dated 8 November 2023) :

Dear David Whitehouse,

1. I appreciate your interest in obtaining a copy of my PhD thesis, though I am not sure about your motive for seeking this academic work.

2. I am sorry to hear that you have had difficulty in obtaining a copy from the University of Bristol. I do not know what is the rule of the University regarding giving out students' works, such as my thesis. To the best of my memory, I have never requested Bristol University to keep my thesis confidential.

3. There is no reason for me to keep my thesis strictly confidential. It is after all an academic work, which has resulted from many years of research and analysis works, regular consultations with my supervisor, Professor Jonathan Temple; as well as thesis defense in front of a panel of professors to get the final approval.

4. On the contrary, I​, just like any academic researcher, would very much welcome any feedback given to my works especially from qualified persons, including other academics and researchers. In fact, I have given out my thesis to a number of people in the past, including academics and researchers, who requested it.

It would be the same for you, if you had requested directly to me earlier. 

5. I would like to take this opportunity to share my theses, both Master's and PhD's, publicly, so that you and also anyone else who may be interested to read these works, which I wrote 22 years and 15 years ago, respectively, can do so easily.

6. I wish you all the best and Happy Reading." =FRESH NEWS

(STRAN 210) Kolumna Boštjana Narata: Bombe, basket, čips in dvanajst točk

V času epidemije sem pisal pisma samemu sebi, ne kot intimni projekt v predal zaklenjenega dnevnika, pač pa kot na straneh tega časopisa javno...

Boštjan Narat

Police open murder probe after body found in abandoned building in Ramat Hasharon

Force also opens investigation into unrelated fatal shooting in north that it says is linked to dispute between two families

When Disagreements Are Caused by Talking Past Each Other

Arguments that are not about the same thing will never be resolved.

John A. Johnson Ph.d

PA’s Abbas accuses Hamas of giving Israel ‘pretexts’ for Gaza war with Oct. 7 attack

Responding to PA chief, who has refrained from condemning the deadly onslaught itself, terror group boasts the massacre put ‘Palestinian cause at...

In first, UN Security Council holds meeting solely focused on hostages held by Hamas

Pentagon chief speaks with Gallant, calls for Israel to ensure uninterrupted aid flow to Gaza before Rafah op * IDF says settlers hurt 3 troops...

US House passes bill requiring delivery of bombs to Israel in GOP-led rebuke of Biden

16 Democrats join nearly all Republicans to approve measure, which Schumer has pledged isn’t ‘going anywhere’ in the Senate and the president...

3 Surprising Signs That You’re Emotionally Unavailable

These signs are often overlooked and may surprise you.

Roxy Zarrabi Psy.d

Banco Central de Uruguay dejó intactas sus tasas de interés y valoró estabilidad de la inflación

El Directorio del Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU), resolvió este jueves mantener la tasa de interés de política monetaria (TPM) en 8,5%, en...

América Economía

Presidente Boric en foro Invest Chile: anuncia inversión extranjera récord, más data centers y nueva licitación de litio

No habían sido buenas semanas para Boric. Con una aprobación a la baja de solo 24% en la reciente encuesta Cadem, las cifras magras de la economía,...

Toddler video superstar ‘Ms. Rachel’ launches Gaza fundraiser, dividing Jewish moms

The children’s YouTube sensation raises $50,000 in hours for Save the Children fund for kids in Gaza, Congo, Sudan and Ukraine; online forums for...

Jackie Hajdenberg

Fitch afirma que empresas mexicanas están preparadas para el cambio de gobierno

Las empresas de México cuentan con niveles moderados de deuda, estructuras saludables de capital y suficiente liquidez que las dejan en buena...

Diverse backgrounds give way to shared fate as Gaza friendly fire victims eulogized

Five soldiers killed by mistaken tank fire in Gaza came from Tel Aviv, Tiberias; two West Bank settlements and Buenos Aires, to serve in special...

Canaan Lidor

Gallant tries to force Netanyahu’s hand on Gaza; it probably won’t work

14 months after briefly losing his job, the defense minister again challenges his boss, demanding real plans to replace Hamas, no Gaza occupation,...

Shalom Yerushalmi

3 Signs of a Truly ADHD-Compatible Partner

First, they like your ADHD brain.

Alise Conner Ph.d

The Often Overlooked Positive Side of Social Media

What healthy tech use actually looks like.

Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles

‘It’s hatred’: Argentina’s queer community reeling from brutal triple lesbicide

The murder of three lesbians in an arson attack has left Argentina’s queer community reeling. Of the four women set on fire as they slept in a...

Buenos Aires Herald

Valen iricibar.

Credicorp: Perú será la segunda economía con el mayor crecimiento en América Latina para 2024

El holding financiero Credicorp destacó que Perú será la segunda economía entre las principales de la región con la tasa de crecimiento más...

Otroke iz BiH in Ukrajine smo šolali. Pa Gaza?

Pomladi 1992 sem imel priložnost sodelovati na šesttedenskem izobraževanju s področja državljanske vzgoje in pravic v okviru pomoči ameriške...

Ivan Lorenčič

Boleči zeleni prehod

Sicer pa vprašajte, kaj si o tem mislijo tisti, ki jim je poleti lani podrlo hiše. Ali pa vprašajte sadjarje, ki se borijo z vse pogostejšimi...

Andrej Velkavrh

زعيم السلام والإنسانية محمد بن زايد

نسمع كثيرا عن أشخاص كثر في مجالات عدة كالفنية والرياضية والإنسانية والسياسية...

Israel confirms 2 Thai nationals were killed on Oct. 7, bodies being held by Hamas

Hotline for Refugees and Migrants says news comes on what would have been 31st birthday of Sonthaya Oakkharasr, who along with Sudthisak Rinthalak...

The Problem With Unconditional Positive Regard

Seemingly benign, it can keep us from seeing distress as a meaningful response.

Joseph E. Davis Ph.d

Your Boss Was Fired. Now What?

How to stop panicking and recover quickly.

Robert Kovach Ph.d

Denial and Defiance: Why the Gaza War Means Israel Must Acknowledge the Nakba Denial and Dehumanization: Why the Gaza War Means Israel Must Now Acknowledge the Nakba

Etan nechin.

Daily Briefing May 16, Day 223: Gallant (again) delivers an explosive speech. Now what?

Editor David Horovitz on challenges facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition – from his defense minister and Haredi members – and...

Israeli soldier moderately hurt in West Bank stabbing; assailant caught

Palestinian officials says three killed overnight during IDF operations in territory, reportedly aimed at networks funding terror activities

Emanuel Fabian

CUNY college scraps Hillel Memorial Day event over anti-Israel protest, security fears

Brooklyn’s Kingsborough Community College cancels gathering after request for more security; Baruch College nixes Independence Day event after...

5 Ways to Become an Empathic Leader

Empathy is a vital skill to embrace.

Judith Orloff M.d

The evacuation of Rafah is yet another form of Israeli torture

When on May 6, news spread that Hamas had accepted a truce proposal, celebrations broke out across Gaza. People took to the streets cheering,...

Eman Alhaj Ali

Group coming-out of gay football players: Will it happen?

A former German footballer has organized a group coming-out for professional players to declare their queerness. Critics say the initiative, meant...

Andreas Sten-Ziemons

Benin gives green light for Niger's oil exports to China

Benin was blocking a pipeline exporting crude oil from Niger to China. Now the trade dispute appears to have been resolved with China's mediation.

Antonio Cascais

Building embryos

Fifty-four years ago, I did something extraordinary. I built myself. I was a single, round cell with not the slightest hint of my final form. Yet...

John Wallingford

Suspect tries to stab border cop in Jerusalem, is shot by officers — police

No injuries to officers, attacker declared dead at the scene; investigation opened to learn identity of stabber who appeared to be acting alone

Man killed, 7 injured in collision between two buses in Tel Aviv

Police say it appears one vehicle ran a red light; separately, 5 IDF soldiers injured after being hit by car in Haifa in what police say was likely...

Meta restores Facebook posts on Malaysian PM Anwar’s meeting with Hamas’s Haniyeh

Tech giant says the social media posts were removed in error; Malaysian leader met Palestinian terror group chief in Qatar

5 soldiers killed, 7 hurt in ‘friendly fire’ incident in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya

Initial IDF probe finds tanks shelled building where paratroopers were gathered, after mistakenly identifying them as enemy forces; commandos...

US military completes installation of Gaza pier; aid to start flowing within days

American officials insist that troops will not set foot in Gaza; plan is for up to 150 truckloads a day to make precarious, multi-stage journey...

Suspect to plead guilty in LA shootings that injured two Jewish men in 2023

Jaime Tran, 29, will plead guilty to two counts of hate crimes with intent to kill and two counts of using, carrying and discharging a firearm...

Jacob Gurvis

California college professor to stand trial in death of pro-Israel protester last year

Loay Abdelfattah AlnajiIf accused of striking Paul Kessler with megaphone; could face over 4 years in jail if found guilty of all charges of...

Turkey’s sudden ban on trade with Israel is already affecting Jews in both countries

From kosher food to construction materials, Israel has long relied on Turkish goods, many of which were supplied by Jewish businesses now suffering...

David I. Klein

Emerging hardline Dutch coalition to look for right ‘time’ to move embassy to Jerusalem

Unprecedented language follows electoral gains of the anti-Islam, pro-Israel Party for Freedom of firebrand Geert Wilders; Holocaust education to...

‘So was I once myself a swinger of birches’ – Robert Frost reads his celebrated poem on yearning for the freedoms of youth - by Aeon Video Watch...

Learning Terminals: Strain of Prioritizing Distribution at Schools Has Been Exposed

Editorial 13:59 JST, May 13, 2024 Prioritizing the distribution of digital devices to students can be said to have exposed the strain that has...

The Japan News Editorial

South African election: fall of ANC

Gwynne Dyer “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born,” wrote Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci in 1929. “Now is the time...

Gwynne Dyer

Celebrating spirit of May

May truly reigns as the queen of seasons, adorned with the splendor of blooming flowers, lush grass and vibrant trees proudly displaying its...

Shin Hye-Suk

Why are the Palestinians not being asked who they want to govern in Gaza?

Tawfiq rabahi.

It’s officially hotter than anytime since the birth of Jesus

It’s one thing to say the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2023 was the hottest of the 150 years people have been making measurements. This well-...

U.S.-Japan semiconductor alliance of the future

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s historic visit to Washington in April has opened a new era in technology cooperation between the U.S. and Japan....

Joshua W. Walker

Its weakness on Gaza may cost UK Labour a majority in the next election

Earlier this month, across England and Wales, people went to the polls in local and mayoral elections in what was seen by many as a trial run for...

Othman Moqbel

What is behind the talks on the sidelines of the WEF in Riyadh?

The capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, hosted a special session of the World Economic Forum on April 28 and 29. The theme of this year’s event was...

Madi Khalis Maalouf

The Weekly Dispatch

Hun Manet Reveals His PhD, Chinese Hackers Hit Hard, Police Puncture Nitrous Parties

Good morning, cambodia. it's friday, november 10, and this is your weekly dispatch..

PARTY OVER: Chea Mony and Rong Chhun are synonymous with the political opposition. The labor leaders this week quit the Candlelight Party and joined the newly formed Nation Power Party. Is this a new era — or a last hurrah? 

RED LINES: Personal debt soared to more than $14 billion in the third quarter, equal to roughly $870 for every Cambodian. More than 50% was tied to property loans, with banks, families and more fearing an ever-ominous bubble.

FEVER PITCH: Prince Norodom Amarithivong and relatives in the Royal Family have invested in a top Thai football club. The prince is promising joint ventures, while outraged local fans want that money spent on home teams. 

So much for “iron-clad” friendships.

Chinese cyberspies have hacked into the networks of at least two dozen Cambodian government agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, giving diplomatic migraines to Hun Manet’s fledgling administration. 

The new prime minister has no good counter moves. He can remain silent and pretend the cyber attacks never happened, or downplay it with assurances that Cambodia has nothing to hide. Protesting, which could risk billions in annual loans and investments, is out of the question.

Critically, the government’s computers remain compromised , and while officials would typically turn to China in times of need, all they can do now is look the other way in embarrassment.

Tourist Trap

The latest tourism figures are wildly misleading.

According to the topline numbers, Cambodia recorded nearly 4 million tourist arrivals over the first nine months of the year, up more than 210% compared to 2022. The figure suggests the tourism industry is well on its way to recovery — but that’s simply not the case.

Angkor Wat, the Kingdom’s premier tourism destination, recorded a mere 602,570 foreign visitors through October, or about 67% less than the 2.2 million counted in 2019, before the pandemic.

A full recovery, analysts predict, is still years away.

Money Trees

Environmental experts are calling on the government to return land taken under the long-failed policy of economic land concessions .

Around 2.25 million hectares, nearly 15% of the country, remains under the control of concessionaires more than a decade after the government stopped the program, which promised jobs and economic growth but yielded little more than mass forced evictions and deforestation.

Most of those hectares now lay unused and fallow, abandoned and stripped of valuable trees. Allowing locals to farm the areas would relieve untold hardships, experts say, while potentially pumping millions into the economy.

TALKING POINTS

Paper Chase

Hun Manet, after weeks of shirty online speculation , publicly released his PhD dissertation , “What Determines the Firm Size Distribution and

Structural Integration? A Cross-Country Study.” The paper explores the workings of small- and medium-sized businesses, although it does not look specifically at Cambodia. Critics had accused the prime minister of keeping the work confidential. Instead, he welcomed their feedback.

Two prominent Candlelight Party leaders called it quits, dealing a significant blow to the Kingdom’s main opposition group. Chea Mony and Rong Chhun , heavyweights of the organized labor movement, jumped ship with several colleagues to the little known Nation Power Party, a move that likely signifies a new era in opposition politics — one without Sam Rainsy or Kem Sokha.

Damage Done

The Ministry of Environment vowed greater scrutiny of new mining projects, acknowledging that commercial interests needed balancing against cultural and ecological concerns. Keo Rattanak, the minister of mines and energy, lamented the long row of quarries along National Road 4 and said mountains with religious or cultural significance must be protected.

Consumers racked up a record $14.3 billion in debt in the third quarter, or about $870 for every man, woman and child in the Kingdom. More than half is tied to mortgages in the troubled real estate sector. The World Bank suggests such high debt levels are risky, and insiders say several banks are struggling under the weight of bad loans.

Cambodia deported 25 Japanese nationals arrested in September for allegedly running an international phone scam ring. The U.N. estimates 100,000 people are involved in the Kingdom’s notorious cyber scam industry, which operates under the protection of well-connected tycoons and corrupt police.

Penalty Kick

Fans are furious with the Cambodian royals who invested in a Thai football club. The group, led by Prince Norodom Amarithivong, signed a joint venture with Police Tero, a team in Thailand’s top division. The prince said collaborations with Cambodian teams were in the works, and local players would gain valuable experience in Thailand.

Police raided the Number 9 club on Bassac Lane during a weekend crackdown on “happy balloons” filled with nitrous oxide, briefly detaining more than 100 patrons, including several foreigners. Cambodia has no laws restricting the use of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, but authorities are pushing to ban it after a surge in recreational use.

BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault

Brothels to Remain Open During Water Festival Weekend

November 6, 2003 Phnom Penh’s brothels will be allowed to remain open through the weekend, despite having been ordered to close during previous Water Festivals, city officials said Tuesday.

Gary Glitter Sues Ministry of Women’s Affairs for Defamation

November 5, 2003 Gary Glitter, the British glam-rock legend whose career lurched to an abrupt halt in 1999 after he was convicted on child pornography charges, is suing the Ministry of Women’s and Veterans’ Affairs for defamation, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Drivers Open Fire on City Boulevard

November 4, 2003 A Sunday evening dance-floor scuffle led to the second shooting in six days involving children of powerful Phnom Penh families, police officials said Monday.

WEEKEND READING

They opened the door. The dictators were waiting.

Sarada Taing was worried sick. A U.S. citizen who was born in Cambodia, he was running from Washington an online, independent news broadcast for audiences in Cambodia and around the world. On his weekday Khmer-language video talk show, which draws between 50,000 and 80,000 viewers, he airs investigative reports on corruption, money laundering, land grabs, deforestation, human rights abuses and human trafficking — challenging the authoritarian government.

Photos: Hacker, public domain. Hun Manet, Facebook. Send comments to [email protected]

Ready for more?

Hun Manet: Walking his father's path into Cambodia's top job

Phnom Penh (AFP) – Cambodia's new prime minister Hun Manet was groomed for years for the job by his iron-fisted father Hun Sen, and his takeover sees the completion of a dynastic transition long in the making.

Issued on: 21/08/2023 - 23:06 Modified: 22/08/2023 - 04:27

Tuesday's unanimous parliamentary vote to install him as PM sees Hun Manet move from the premier's bodyguard unit to the seat of power.

Hun Sen last month announced his resignation, three days after claiming a landslide victory in a one-sided election that the ruling party was guaranteed to win after having silenced all viable opposition.

Hun Manet, already a member of the ruling Cambodian People's Party's (CPP) powerful permanent committee, has served as commander of the Royal Cambodian Army since 2018.

Born on October 20, 1977, the princeling graduated from US Military Academy West Point in 1999 and has more recently met world leaders including President Xi Jinping of China -- Cambodia's main ally and benefactor.

But the 45-year-old four-star general only contested a parliamentary seat for the first time in July's election, a poll criticised internationally as neither free nor fair.

Raised in luxury

Hun Sen has trailed the handover to his son for a year and a half but he has also made it clear that he intends to wield influence after he steps down, scotching the notion the country could change direction when Hun Manet assumes power.

While Hun Sen's politics are shaped by his experiences of revolution and war as a young man during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s, his son was raised in luxury and educated abroad.

Married with two daughters and a son, Hun Manet holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bristol in Britain and was the first Cambodian to graduate from West Point.

He has also served in leadership roles in the ruling CPP's youth movement, his father's bodyguard unit and the counterterrorism special forces.

Higher education abroad is no guarantee of a more liberal approach, exiled politician Sam Rainsy, a longstanding foe of Hun Sen, told AFP last month -- pointing to Syria's brutal Assad dynasty.

"Syria's Bashar al-Assad is more educated than Hafez al-Assad, but the son is politically worse than the father," he said.

Sebastian Strangio, author of a book about Hun Sen's rule, told AFP that Hun Manet had shown little sign of having "either the ability or the desire to push Cambodia in the direction of significant reform".

Without his father's backing, it is not clear Hun Manet would be able to make changes even if he wanted to.

Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said she had little hope of major change.

"Hun Manet is the product of a ruling elite that has turned Cambodia into a de facto one-party state where dissenting voice are not tolerated," she told AFP.

The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore.

Theses and dissertations

The library holds a large number of Bristol theses and dissertations, including many PhD and doctoral theses. Read our advice about how to locate theses from other institutions, both in the UK and internationally .

University of Bristol theses and dissertations

To find a University of Bristol thesis:

• If the thesis is held in the Research Reserve, it can be requested using the 'reserve a copy' button.
• If the thesis is held in the Research Reserve, use the online request form to request it.
• See below for details of how to access theses held in our other library sites.
• Recently submitted theses may be listed on Explore Bristol Research  though information about these is regularly added to Library Search.

Arts and Social Sciences

The collection includes theses from Arts Faculty, Social Sciences and Law Faculty, Physics, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Geographical Sciences, Agricultural Science and the School for Policy Studies.

MA, MSc, MPhil and MLitts do not have to be deposited with the library under the Regulations, so our collections of these are incomplete. 

How to consult a thesis

• Arts and Social Sciences theses are now held in the Library's Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.
• We will notify you when the thesis arrives at the library.
• Thesis loans are for use in the Arts and Social Sciences Library only.

School of Chemistry PhD, MSc and DSc theses from 1910 to date.

Thesis loans are for use in the Chemistry Library only, though postgraduates with seats may keep a thesis at their desk. You may ask if a particular thesis can be kept behind the Issue desk if you will be using it repeatedly for a period of time. Other theses are kept in a Library Staff room and are not available during the evenings.

School of Education EdD, PhD, MPhil, and a selection of Masters theses. Many theses written before 2005 are located in the Research Reserve.

• The MSc and Masters theses are located in the Quiet Study Area;
• The MPhil, PhD and EdDs are located in Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.

The thesis collection from the Medical Library has been relocated to the library's Research Reserve. The collection includes: PhD, MD, MSc, ChM and DSc theses of staff and postgraduate students of the Health Sciences Faculty, from 1910 to date.

A card catalogue in the Medical Library contains details of the earlier theses, or you may check the  Card Catalogue Online .

• See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.
• We will notify you when the thesis arrives at the library;
• Theses are for use in the Medical Library only and you will be asked to sign a register.

School of Physics PhD, MSc and DSc theses from 1950 to date, with a few earlier ones. BSc and MSci projects are also held.

A card catalogue in the Physics Library contains details of the earlier ones.

• Ask at the Issue Desk to borrow a thesis, quoting author, year and category;
• Theses may be borrowed by staff and postgraduates as standard loans;
• Undergraduates may use theses in the library only;
• BSc and MSci projects may be borrowed by undergraduates: for the standard loan period.

Queens (Engineering, Mathematics, Computer science)

Engineering and Mathematics PhD theses are held in the Research Reserve, including Computer Science theses before the Department transferred to the Faculty of Engineering.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request these.

A card catalogue, on the right beyond the Issue desk, contains details of pre-1978 theses.

• It can take 2-3 working days for a thesis to arrive and you will be notified when they are available;
• PhD theses may not be borrowed by undergraduates; taught postgraduates or external members but may be consulted in the library.

MSc Projects

• Some early Engineering MSc projects (1914-1950) are available from the Research Reserve - please contact your  Subject Librarian

Undergraduate projects

• Individual and group projects from 2015/16 - 2019/20 academic years for Civil and Mechanical Engineering are available on the open shelves in the Gallery.
• Early projects from 1920 to 1949 have been moved to  Special Collections  in the  Arts and Social Sciences Library

Veterinary Sciences

MSc Meat Science theses from 1979 to date and a small number of PhD theses. The majority of veterinary sciences PhD theses are housed in the Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.

Theses are shelved in the Computer Room and are for use in the library only.

Wills Memorial (Law, Earth Sciences)

Collections of both Law and Earth Sciences theses.

Theses are confined to the library; please ask at the information desk if you wish to borrow one.

UK and international theses

Information about many UK and international theses can be found via  Library Search . If the thesis you are interested in is not available online, you can use our  inter-Library Loan service . Non-UK theses can be difficult to obtain: in some countries, universities are working together to make full text electronic collections available:

• Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS)  - a service provided by the British Library
• DART - Europe e-theses Portal
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
• PQDT Open  - open access dissertations and theses
• PQDT Global  -  a collection of dissertations and theses from around the world

Submit a thesis

Advice on how to submit a thesis for a higher degree can be found on the  Presenting and submitting your dissertation for examination  page. Information on how to submit a thesis to the library can be found on the Library's own Thesis Guidance  pages.