The UN-organized national elections were heralded as Cambodia's first step on the road to liberal democracy. Since the Royal Government produced by those elections took power, however, much of the triumphalism surrounding the United Nations' intervention in Cambodia, particularly in terms of UNTAC's human rights mandate, has proved to have been premature, as abuses continue and political oppone…
Is liberal democracy a universal ideal? Proponents of "Asian values" argue that it is a distinctive product of the Western experience and that Western powers shouldn't try to push human rights and democracy onto Asian states. Liberal democrats in the West typically counter by questioning the motives of Asian critics, arguing that Asian leaders are merely trying to rationalize human rights viola…