The United States of America held the presidential election on November 3, 2020, which consisted of President Donald J. Trump from the Republican Party and former vice-president and now of course, as of midnight Saturday, President Elect Joe Biden from the Democratic Party as the candidates for the position as the new president of the United States of America.

The presidential election in the US always attracted high attention from many peoples from all levels of the world, thanks to the social media networks, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Cambodian people have in recent years become very interested in the process of the US election.

There is plenty of different discussions on characteristics, leadership, attitude, morality, impact
of foreign policy and the role of the US as the world powerful country under the presidency of the new president when the issue of the ES election is deliberated.

Four years ago, starting from President Donald J. Trump who became the 45th president of the US, the America First Policy became the most favourite and prioritised policy for President Trump, and he has said many times “I am the president of the US, I am not the president of the world” and paid much attention to internal issues inside the US, and he did not want to waste American’s money and energy to solve issues outside of the US.

Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, the US ‘s alliances in Asia such as Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines started to strengthen their power (economic and military), and sometimes they have held meetings with China, which is the competitor of the US. The reason for US’s allies to start strengthening their abilities and capacities was because president Trump asked for money for security protection from their allies and he always changed his mind. The US’s allies always wanted the US to hold discussions with them before implementing something that is related to the benefit of their nations, but the US made a decision first and then asked for support from his allies later. This was the main contentious point that made the allies in Asia feel unhappy with the US but they could not leave their long standing alliance.

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As the US foreign policy changes under the leadership of each president, the US Ambassador in each country plays a very important role as the bridge to connect good relations with all of the host countries.

The big number of internet users in Cambodia means that many Cambodian citizens have access to different sources to receive information about Cambodia and the world. There are smart people who receive big advantages from the internet and also there are citizens who just waste their time without getting anything from the internet.

Facebook changed the political atmosphere in Cambodia. Facebook also changed the political behavior of Cambodian politicians who now expose their activities to the public as a new way of communicating with their supporters and to send messages to their followers. At present, political supporters feel very close to their leaders. Facebook users in Cambodia can also follow their idols on Facebook.

What is the connection between Cambodia and the US election? The US started diplomatic relations with Cambodia in 1950. This year is the 70th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties between Cambodia and the US.  Although Cambodia and the US are located far away from each other, political relations of the two countries are connected to each other rather closely. During the reign of the late King Norodom Sihanouk, Lon Nol, Khmer Rouge, the United Nations, State of Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Cambodia, the US had always been involved with each regime, directly or otherwise.

According to comments and status on Facebook, the majority of Cambodian NGO leaders hope the US president will pay high attention to human rights in the world since the US Government always supports funding to many NGOs in the world to implement and train human rights in developing countries.

Some Cambodian politicians want the president of the US to respect the sovereignty and territory of all independent countries in this globe, and they wish the US to not interfere in the internal issues of Cambodia. At the same time, opposition leaders and NGO leaders want the US president to play a stronger role in human rights situation and democracy of all countries in the world.

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All in all, Cambodian politicians who are in power want the US Government to understand the internal issues of Cambodia and respect internal culture and tradition of the country since political leadership is always inter-connected with culture, tradition, and the situation of the country. It is natural that opposition leaders in the world always seek support from an outside power.  NGO leaders want support from countries which they believe are those that respect human rights and democracy which fit their perceived mission, vision, and activities of their organization. However, having a good chance to study in the US is one of the big dreams of many Cambodian students.

As of press time, Joe Biden has been declared as President Elect while sitting President Donald Trump has mounted legal offences against alleged irregularities and has refused to concede. Irrespective of the inevitable final outcome, Cambodia’s relation with the US will surely hang in the balance as President Trump had declared that he would not support regime change in Cambodia.

Dr. Seun Sam is a researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia

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