The New Dark Age

Saturday, 26 July 2025 — The New Atlas

• Thailand and Cambodia exchange heavy fire along border region over disputed territory – the latest of a long-term dispute stretching back to French colonization of Cambodia;

• Despite the long-term nature of the dispute, actual clashes are rare and used opportunistically rather than as a genuine source of conflict;

• Despite Cold War myths, Thailand in recent years has developed a larger and deeper relationship with China than the US and far more significant than Cambodia’s relationship with China;

• Cambodia depends on the US as its primary export market and uses US dollars as local currency, a regional outlier where most nations primarily do business with China and the rest of Asia;

• The current government of Thailand is headed by US-backed billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra (via his daughter), who is a close friend and collaborator with Cambodia’s Hun Sen;

• The conflict serves neither Thai nor Cambodian interests, and instead meshes into the US policy of “extending” targeted nations by creating a multitude of conflicts along its periphery – a strategy the US has used against Thailand, and has used against China by disrupting peace and prosperity in Southeast Asia in general;