Kharitonova, A. M. VISITS OF OFFICIAL DELEGATIONS FROM THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA IN THE USSR AS AN ELEMENT OF THE NORODOM SIHANOUK’S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY (1953–1970) // Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2018. No 5 (174). DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2018.163


World history

VISITS OF OFFICIAL DELEGATIONS FROM THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA IN THE USSR AS AN ELEMENT OF THE NORODOM SIHANOUK’S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY (1953–1970)

Kharitonova
A. M. 		Saint Petersburg State University
Keywords:
Cambodia
the USSR
Norodom Sihanouk
the policy of neutrality
Indochina
PRC
the monthly French edition “Le Monde diplomatique”		 Summary: The policy of neutrality pursued by a number of developing states in the middle and the second half of the 20th century occupied an important place in the system of foreign relations of that time. The foreign policy strategy of the Kingdom of Cambodia developed by Norodom Sihanouk played an important role in the South-East Asia region in the 1950s–1960s. Some important issues still need deeper research and clarification, including the problem of the N. Sihanouk’s foreign policy “succession”. This fact determines the relevance of this article. Foreign policy doctrine of Norodom Sihanouk and the “policy of neutrality” pursued them repeatedly evaluated in the West negatively due to have taken place critical statements about US policy in Southeast Asia, as well as for public demonstration of sympathy toward China and the Soviet Union. However, in fact, an essential component of this policy was equidistant from the opposing military-political blocs. In this article, the author makes an attempt to examine the foreign policy views of N. Sihanouk, declared by him in several theoretical articles published by the Cabinet of the Head of State in Phnom Penh and in the monthly French edition “Le Monde diplomatique”. Visits and negotiations on the political, military, economic and cultural interaction of Cambodian delegations to the USSR in 1953–1970 are analyzed in the article. At the same time the author of the paper introduces to the scientific community new historical materials in the Khmer, French and Russian languages.



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