Hun Sen is a wily survivor of Cambodian politics and the wider tumult across Southeast Asia over the last half-a-century. Born to rice farmers in a province heavily bombed during the secret U.S. war in Cambodia and Laos, he became a soldier for the Khmer Rouge, whose murderous regime from 1975 to 1979 killed about a quarter of the population.

While Thailand and Cambodia have reached a temporary ceasefire in their border conflict, it is unlikely to hold as the conflict’s escalation is driven by Thai and Cambodian elites’ efforts to

The talks between commanders on both sides were seen as a crucial test of whether the cease-fire deal reached on Monday would result in a lasting peace.