US and Cambodia Resume Joint Military Exercises After Hiatus

2 days ago7 min read

The geopolitical chessboard just witnessed a significant move as the United States and Cambodia announced the revival of their flagship Angkor Sentinel military exercises, ending an eight-year suspension that had signaled a deep chill in bilateral relations. This isn't merely a training drill; it's a full-spectrum political maneuver, a campaign ad broadcast to the world, and a direct counter to China's entrenched influence in Phnom Penh.The suspension in 2017 wasn't just a scheduling conflict—it was a strategic divorce, driven by Washington's growing alarm over Cambodia's increasingly cozy military and economic partnership with Beijing, including the controversial expansion of the Ream Naval Base with suspected Chinese backing, a facility that could grant the PLA a crucial strategic foothold in the Gulf of Thailand. The announcement, delivered by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Malaysia, was a masterstroke of political theater, a public declaration of re-engagement designed to showcase American resolve in Southeast Asia.This diplomatic offensive follows a flurry of recent deals, including a Trump-backed peace accord with Thailand, suggesting a coordinated, multi-front strategy to reassert US influence in a region it risked ceding. For Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, who succeeded his long-ruling father, this move is a delicate balancing act, a potential pivot to diversify partnerships and avoid over-reliance on a single patron, a classic play for strategic autonomy.The resumption of these exercises must be analyzed not just for their military value but for their symbolic weight: they are a signal to Beijing that Washington is back in the game, a reassurance to ASEAN allies about American commitment, and a test of Cambodia's willingness to recalibrate its foreign policy. The strategic implications are profound, potentially altering the balance of power in the South China Sea theater and forcing a reassessment of China's Belt and Road Initiative dominance in the region.However, skeptics in the Pentagon's war-gaming rooms are watching closely, questioning whether this is a genuine realignment or a tactical feint by Phnom Penh to extract better terms from Beijing. The coming months will be critical; the execution and scope of the revived Angkor Sentinel will be dissected for clues, with every joint naval maneuver and officer exchange scrutinized as an indicator of the depth of this diplomatic thaw. In the high-stakes arena of Indo-Pacific strategy, this is more than a military exercise—it's the opening salvo in a new, complex chapter of great power competition.

#hottest news

#US-Cambodia relations

#military exercises

#Angkor Sentinel

#defense diplomacy

#Southeast Asia

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