Cambodian conflict (1979–1998)

The Cambodian conflict, also known as the Khmer Rouge insurgency, was an armed conflict that began in 1979 when the Khmer Rouge government of Democratic Kampuchea was deposed during the Cambodian-Vietnamese War. The war concluded in 1999 when the remaining Khmer Rouge forces surrendered. Between 1979 and the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, the war was fought between the Vietnam-supported People's Republic of Kampuchea and an opposing coalition. After 1991, the unrecognized Khmer Rouge government and insurgent forces continued to fight against the new government of Cambodia from remote areas until their defeat in 1998.

After the fall of Pol Pot's regime, Cambodia came under Vietnamese military occupation, and a pro-Hanoi, Soviet government known as the People's Republic of Kampuchea was formed, led by the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation. The conflict was fought during the 1980s between the People's Republic of Kampuchea and the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. The latter was a government-in-exile formed in 1981 that was composed of three Cambodian political factions: the royalist FUNCINPEC party led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Party of Democratic Kampuchea (often referred to as the Khmer Rouge), and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF). The Khmer Rouge representative at the UN, Thiounn Prasith, was maintained.

Throughout the 1980s the Khmer Rouge, supported by China, Thailand, the United States, and the United Kingdom, continued to control a large part of the country and attacked territory that was not under its control. The conflict led to economic sanctions on Cambodia by the United States and its allies, which made reconstruction difficult and left the country extremely poor.

Peace efforts intensified between 1989 and 1991, with two international conferences in Paris and a UN peacekeeping mission that helped maintain a ceasefire. The UN issued a mandate known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (APRONUC) to enforce a ceasefire and deal with the issue of refugees and disarmament.

As part of the peace effort, UN-sponsored elections were held in 1993, which helped restore some semblance of normality, and cement the gradual decline of the Khmer Rouge. However, a low-intensity conflict continued between the Cambodian army and Khmer Rouge guerrillas until 1998. Norodom Sihanouk was restored as the king of Cambodia, but the situation was intensified by the 1997 coup. A coalition government formed after national elections in 1998, bringing political stability and renewing the surrender of the remaining Khmer Rouge forces that year.