Countries / Cambodia / Dossier
Cambodia
A combined view of Cambodia's UN General Assembly speeches, treaty commitments, and voting record.
The narrative paragraphs below are AI-generated syntheses of the data shown — the tables and figures themselves come directly from the underlying records, not from the AI.
Compare with another country →Speech history
Cambodia's rhetorical stance at the UN has undergone a notable transformation. From 2007 to 2015, speeches were consistently measured and policy-oriented, emphasizing multilateralism (scores 74–78) with moderate emotional restraint and periodic calls for UN reform backed by national development examples. Beginning in 2016, however, Cambodia's tone shifted sharply toward defensive emotionalism and sovereignty concerns, with a pointed critique of Western-led multilateralism and international human rights pressure—most starkly in 2016–2017 when emotional intensity peaked at 82 and 78 while multilateralism plummeted to 47 and 38. Since 2021, Cambodia has moderated its defensiveness and re-embraced multilateralism (scores 72–88), though it continues to invoke its own development and peacekeeping achievements with greater concreteness and self-referentiality than in the earlier period, while maintaining diplomatic reserve.
| Session | Multilateralism | Emotional intensity | Concreteness | Self-accountability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | High | Low | High | Medium |
| 2008 | High | Low | High | High |
| 2011 | High | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| 2014 | High | Low | High | Medium |
| 2015 | High | Low | Medium | Medium |
| 2016 | Medium | Very High | High | High |
| 2017 | Low | High | Medium | High |
| 2018 | High | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| 2019 | Medium | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2020 | High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2021 | Very High | Medium | Medium | High |
| 2022 | High | Low | High | High |
| 2023 | High | Medium | High | High |
| 2024 | Very High | Medium | High | High |
| 2025 | High | High | High | Medium |
Treaty status
Full treaty record →Cambodia has demonstrated broad and consistent commitment to international legal frameworks, ratifying 23 of 24 tracked treaties. Its strongest engagement lies in environmental governance, having ratified all 10 environmental treaties including the Paris Agreement and Montreal Protocol variants, reflecting substantial climate and conservation commitments. Cambodia is equally committed to human rights conventions (5 of 5 ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Convention on the Rights of the Child) and trade and governance instruments (3 of 3 ratified). The sole exception is the Arms Trade Treaty, which Cambodia signed but has not ratified, and it has fully ratified all major arms-control treaties including the mine-ban convention and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Arms control & security
- Arms Trade TreatySigned, not ratified
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban TreatyRatified
- Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their DestructionRatified
- Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsRatified
Environment & climate
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their DisposalRatified
- Convention on Biological DiversityRatified
- Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
- Minamata Convention on MercuryRatified
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Paris AgreementRatified
- Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International TradeRatified
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic PollutantsRatified
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in AfricaRatified
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
Human rights
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentRatified
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against WomenRatified
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesRatified
- Convention on the Rights of the ChildRatified
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsRatified
International justice
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal CourtRatified
Trade & governance
- United Nations Convention against CorruptionRatified
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized CrimeRatified
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaRatified
Voting record
Full voting record →Cambodia votes affirmatively in the vast majority of General Assembly votes (4,077 yes out of 5,544 total, or 74 percent), with abstentions (202) and absences (1,207) comprising a substantial portion of non-yes votes. Its voting pattern shows strong consensus alignment, but notable dissents cluster around two issues: Cambodia voted no on four consecutive annual resolutions (2018–2021) concerning implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, bucking strong majorities of 95–96 percent support, and voted against a 2018 resolution on human rights in Myanmar despite 94 percent consensus. These dissents suggest Cambodia prioritizes diplomatic relations with regional allies over alignment with Western-led human rights and weapons scrutiny initiatives.
Notable dissents from consensus
Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2018-12-05 · voted N · 96% voted yes
Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2021-12-06 · voted N · 95% voted yes
Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2020-12-07 · voted N · 95% voted yes
Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2019-12-12 · voted N · 95% voted yes
Situation of human rights in Myanmar : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2018-12-22 · voted N · 94% voted yes
Human development
Full HDI record →Human Development Index: 0.606 (Medium), ranked #151 globally in 2023.
Combines life expectancy, education, and income into one comparable score, 0 to 1. Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025 — deterministic figures, not AI-generated.
1990–2023