For much of the early post–Cold War era, Cambodia was seen as a country struggling heroically to rebuild after catastrophe. Decimated by genocide, civil war, and foreign intervention, it emerged in the 1990s as a symbol of fragile democratic renewal in Southeast Asia. Three decades later, that promise has largely evaporated. Instead, Cambodia has acquired a very different reputation: one of the world’s most permissive environments for transnational organized crime.

Today, the country is widely regarded by law enforcement agencies and international observers as a global hub for online scam operations, illicit gambling networks, money laundering, and large-scale human trafficking. It has also been linked to the production and transit of synthetic drugs on an industrial scale. While Cambodian authorities insist they are confronting these problems, critics argue that criminal enterprises have flourished precisely because of entrenched corruption, weak institutions, and deep connections between political elites and illicit capital.

Understanding how Cambodia reached this point requires examining the intersection of authoritarian politics, patronage networks, permissive citizenship laws, and shifts in regional criminal economies.

The collapse of democratic momentum

Cambodia’s modern trajectory cannot be separated from its political evolution. After the devastation of the Khmer Rouge era, in which an estimated 1.7 million people were killed, the 1991 Paris Peace Accords marked a turning point. The agreements ended years of civil war and paved the way for UN-supervised elections in 1993. At the time, Cambodia was widely hailed as a rare example of post-conflict democratic reconstruction in Southeast Asia.

That optimism proved short-lived. When the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), led by Hun Sen, failed to secure a clear electoral victory in 1993, Hun Sen refused to relinquish power. Instead, a power-sharing arrangement was imposed, allowing him to remain co–prime minister. This uneasy compromise collapsed in 1997, when Hun Sen carried out a violent coup that removed his rivals and consolidated his control over the state.

From that point onward, Cambodia’s political system steadily hardened into authoritarian rule. Over the next two decades, opposition parties were dismantled, critics were imprisoned or driven into exile, and independent media outlets were shuttered or co-opted. By the time Hun Sen formally stepped down in 2023, handing power to his son Hun Manet, the country’s democratic institutions had been hollowed out.

Political scientists note that such personalized systems of rule are fertile ground for corruption. In authoritarian regimes centered on a single family or individual, informal loyalty often matters more than formal law. Illegal activity becomes a tool of governance rather than a threat to it.

Patronage as the backbone of........

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