Cambodia's Curse

For much of the world Cambodia brings to mind the horrors of the Khmer Rouge's killing fields. And because progress is assumed to have taken place in the three decades since, the world tends to overlook the state of affairs there today.

But contemporary Cambodia continues to suffer by its government. Most international aid agencies tolerate Cambodian government corruption because of the long process required to recover from the crimes of the Khmer Rouge years -- even though Pol Pot was deposed in 1979 and the majority of Cambodians today were born after the Khmer Rouge era. Thirty years ago Brinkley won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the brutal aftermath of Khmer Rouge rule. On a return trip he documents the government's role in contract killings, the "disappearance" of dissidents, the arrest of reporters, and the expropriation of private land.