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the propensity of civil war is feasible. Two main questions are asked to answer the abovementioned
objectives of the thesis. They are: (1) is there any relationship between foreign aid and corruption in
Cambodia? If yes, how can foreign aid impact on corruption and vice versa? And (2) how can the
nexus between the two create the conditions for the propensity of civil war in Cambodia? If yes,
how can the onset of civil war be attainable?
A reason to focus on the relationship between foreign aid and corruption is simple: foreign
aid is supposed to promote development. However, the consequences of poor management of
foreign aid might exacerbate the internal dynamics within the country and destabilize it. Is it then
possible that foreign aid could contribute to the propensity of civil war? The author contention is
this is a real possibility in poor countries emerging from a long period of unstable political and
economic conditions.
In this regard, since Cambodia has been ranked one of the most corrupt countries on earth,
the concern is corruption might interrupt aid, which is hampering development and causing more
troubles. This is a vicious cycle that can reignite a civil war. Oberg & Strom (2008) paraphrased the
arguments of a number of authors studying civil war 1 that “Civil conflict destroys physical
infrastructure as well as social infrastructure, and it drives off labor, especially skilled workers. Civil
conflicts have been and continue to be a major obstacle to economic development in several regions
of the world. Moreover, civil conflicts hamper economic growth and development not only in the
war-torn country but also in neighboring countries and the surrounding region” (p. 4).
So what are the causes of civil war?
As detailed in Oberg & Strom (2008), there is a massive amount of literature and first hands
accounts from numerous authors from across many disciplines on the study of the causes and the
onset of civil war. Some researchers place the cause on poverty, some on economic inequality, while
the other on natural resources, remittances and so on. Among them, the renowned and most recent
study on the causes of civil war is popularly credited to the work of Collier & Hoeffler, the Policy
Researchers of the World Bank (Collier & Hoeffler, 2000; Collier & Hoeffler, 2002(a); Collier at al.,
(2003); Collier, Hoeffler & Sambanis, 2005; Collier, Hoeffler & Rohner, 2006). They have studied
quantitatively, by using cross-country study, the issues since the early 2000s, and placed the causes of
civil war on the so-called greed and grievance. From that, the theory of civil war has been developed
1 Since civil war sometimes is confused with other terms such as civil conflict, internal war, or armed conflict, even
though they are more or less share common goal. To make it clear, Kalyvas (2006) put it as “armed combat within the
boundaries of a recognized sovereign entity between parties subject to a common authority at the outset of the hostilities” (p. 17).
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as the “Collier & Hoeffler Model of Civil War”. This theory is used to partly test the second part of
the second research question in the thesis.
The thesis argues that foreign aid partly promotes corruption, causing more poverty and huge inequality
between the rich and the poor, which make Cambodia more prone to civil war; however, the civil war is manifested or
not depends on the motivation of the resistant group to form themselves as well as the finance to form and sustain them.
The following is the structure of the thesis.
2. Structure of the thesis
The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter I constituted the introduction currently
being presented. It introduces the problem statement or thesis of this study and the rationale and
objectives behind of the study. Subsequently, it also structures the whole study into chapters, and
explains the aims and relationships of the chapters.
Chapter II details the research methodology, literature review, and conceptual discussion, to
frame the journey and direction of the thesis. The research methodology section explains the design
by showing the method of data collection and data analysis. The literature review portion is classified
into three main parts—(1) the nexus between foreign aid and corruption, (2) the link between
foreign aid, corruption, and conflict or civil war, and (3) the correlation between the three in
Cambodia. With regard to the conceptual discussion, it examines the theories and concepts of both
foreign aid and corruption, and then proposes the commonly compromised definitions of both
terms used in the whole thesis.
Chapter III thoroughly and exclusively focuses on the relationship between foreign aid and
corruption in Cambodia. It first provides an overview of the historical context and foreign aid trends
in Cambodia since it gained full independence from France, through the occupied Cambodia era as
part of a so-called Indochina from 1863 to 1953, all the way to present-day. It is worth our time and
attention to focus on this history as it fundamentally helps us understand the general political
economy of the country and why and how aid was sent and how it impacted both domestic and
international affairs. Second, Chapter III thoroughly analyzes the aid-corruption nexus in Cambodia.
At this point, the focus shifts to respond to the first research question. It specifically examines how
foreign aid impacts corruption in Cambodia and vice versa. By so doing, the policies of both donors
and the Cambodian government in providing and receiving aid respectively, and the contextual
factors are deeply analyzed.
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Chapter IV, the heart of the thesis, examines if there is any consequence of the aid-
corruption nexus on the propensity of future civil war, and then goes deeper to analyze if the onset
of civil war is likely attainable in the status quo of Cambodia given the fact that the propensity of
civil war is feasible.
Chapter V concludes the thesis by combining the findings from Chapters II through IV, and
suggests lessons learned as well as provides policy recommendations to peace-related stakeholders
and ends by modestly focusing on how research of this nature is of significance to the larger field of
Peace and Conflict Studies.
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CHAPTER II
Research Methodology, Literature Review, and Conceptual Discussion
1. Research Methodology
This research is a bibliographical or desk research, and employed qualitative approach. The
type of this research methodology is the exploratory case study. Gray (2004) suggests that “The case
study method is ideal when a “how” or “why” question is being asked about a contemporary set of
events over which the researcher has no control” (p. 124). This research looks specifically at
Cambodia as a case study, in which the nexus between foreign aid and corruption is discussed and
analyzed if it might encourage the propensity of civil war. Cambodia is chosen because it is one of
the most aid-dependent and corrupt countries in the world. It is exploratory research, as Gray (2004)
recommended, because it is worth conducted when not enough information is known about the
issue. In this regard, this research is going to specifically explore if and how foreign aid impacts
corruption and vice versa, and how the two instigate future civil war in Cambodia.
1.1. Data Collection Method
As the research is based on desk reviews of existing literature, the data collected are
exclusively counted as secondary sources. Diverse data from different sources are gathered—in
effect a triangulation of data sources—that support the validity and reliability of the finding. Data on
the general situations of the link between foreign aid and corruption, and their attribution to civil
war, as well as those particularly associated with Cambodia, are basically gathered through academic
books and scholarly journals. While some important policy research reports related to foreign aid
and corruption produced by non-governmental organizations or other institutions are collected,
some up-to-date news articles, interviews with relevant stakeholders conducted by established
institutions such as 101 East, Radio Free Asia etc., are also collected. In particular, while the study
relies heavily on “second hand” information, attempts have been made to gather first hand accounts
through the speeches and words of stakeholders such as the Prime Minister of Cambodia, the World
Bank Director to Cambodia, Director of the Human Rights Watch, then-Executive Director of the
Center for Social Development in Cambodia, the Parliament Member, and other relevant individuals,
especially in regard to topic related to foreign aid and corruption. Some of these have been collected
from the respectful and reliable sources, online news, and websites.
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1.2. Data Analysis Method
The method used for data analysis is content analysis. Content analysis is defined by Holsti
(1969) that “any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying
specified characteristics of messages” (p. 14), while it is similarly defined by Krippendorff (2004)
that “a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful
matter) to the contexts of their use” (p. 18). Also, Dey (1993) asserts that content analysis is the
process of analysis that goes beyond description by breaking data down into small units to deeply
understand the characteristics of each element. This is inferential thinking at its best. After collecting
and assembling all the relevant sources on the relationship between foreign aid, corruption, and civil
war in general, and that in Cambodia in particular, the data are coded by breaking them down into
different categories or problems, such as foreign aid, corruption, and civil war, and subcategories, i.e.
state’s policies, poverty, economic inequality etc., of the research and then analyze based on content
analysis method. Content analysis is used fundamentally to analyze the relevant existing literature,
including books, scholarly journals, policy research reports, speeches, interviews, newspapers articles
and other relevant sources, on how foreign aid in general contributes to corruption or vice versa in
Cambodia. This method is also used to examine if the consequences of aid-corruption nexus
influence on the propensity of civil war, and finally to analyze if the onset of civil war is attainable by
party employing Collier & Hoeffler Model of Civil War. For content analysis, the data analyzed are
based on three phases proposed by Flick (1998): Summarizing content analysis, explicating content
analysis, and structuring content analysis.
2. Literature Review
Since the thesis mainly focuses on foreign aid and corruption in Cambodia and whether and
how the link of the two perpetuate or instigate future civil war in the country, the literature to be
reviewed are divided into three parts: first, the review of the nexus between foreign aid and
corruption in general; second, the review of the attribution of conflict to foreign aid and corruption;
and last, the review of foreign aid, corruption, and how the correlation of the two may paves the way
for the propensity of civil war in Cambodia.
The study on the relationship between foreign aid and corruption is relatively new even
though the separate study on the two subjects was believed to date back long time ago. Although
there are many studies on foreign aid and corruption separately, there have just been a handful of
relevant studies regarding the nexus between the two. Since corruption is one of the components of
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