Eisenhower and Cambodia

Although most Americans paid little attention to Cambodia during Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency, the nation's proximity to China and the global ideological struggle with the Soviet Union guaranteed US vigilance throughout Southeast Asia. Cambodia's leader, Norodom Sihanouk, refused to take sides in the Cold War, a policy that disturbed US officials. From 1953 to 1961, his government avoided the political and military crises of neighboring Laos and South Vietnam. However, relations between Cambodia and the United States suffered a blow in 1959 when Sihanouk discovered CIA involvement in a plot to overthrow him. The coup, supported by South Vietnam and Thailand, was a failure that succeeded only in increasing Sihanouk's power and prestige, presenting new foreign policy challenges in the region.In Eisenhower and Cambodia, William J. Rust examines the United States' efforts to lure Cambodia from neutrality to alliance. He conclusively demonstrates that, as with Laos in 1958 and 1960, covert intervention in the internal political affairs of neutral Cambodia proved to be a counterproductive tactic for advancing the United States' anticommunist goals. Drawing on recently declassified sources, Rust skillfully traces the impact of "plausible deniability" on the formulation and execution of foreign policy. His meticulous study not only reveals a neglected chapter in Cold War history but also illuminates the intellectual and political origins of US strategy in Vietnam and the often-hidden influence of intelligence operations in foreign affairs.

"Like his previous diplomatic histories of the United States' early efforts in Laos and South Vietnam, Rust's study of the Eisenhower administration's relationship with Cambodia is a valuable and compelling addition to our understanding of the roots of the Second Indochina War." -- Journal of Military History, " Eisenhower and Cambodia should not only be considered the standard work on US--Cambodia relations during this period, but it is also a highly useful text for understanding US foreign policy formulation during the Eisenhower years, Washington's often fraught relationship with its anti-communist allies, and the limits of covert action." -- International Affairs, "In William J. Rust's Eisenhower & Cambodia: Diplomacy, Covert Action, and the Origins of the Second Indochina War, new light is shed on an often convoluted segment of Cambodian history, describing detailed experiments in democracy, Cold War diplomatic maneuverings and a king obsessed with political power. Anyone interested in the complex and often violent birth pangs of post-World WarCambodia, its connection to the war in Vietnam and the rise of the Khmer Rouge will findRust's book of unparalleled appeal." -- Mekong Review, "Rust has a keen eye for detail, and his research [...] shines a light on the complicated politics of Southeast Asia in the 1950s, including the region's political and military leaders and dissident groups, as well as US diplomats stationed there." -- Asian Review of Books, "Rust offers a thoroughly researched history of the relationship between the United States and Cambodia during the Eisenhower years. Rust is excellent in reporting on the process of American policymaking and how Sihanouk and the Cambodians reacted to American policy. Rust tells a fascinating story filled with political and military intrigue and covert action." -- H-Diplo

William J. Rust is a former journalist and communications consultant. He is the author of Kennedy in Vietnam: American Vietnam Policy, 1960-1963, Before the Quagmire: American Intervention in Laos, 1954-1961, and So Much to Lose: John F. Kennedy and American Policy in Laos.