World court rules on Thailand-Cambodia dispute

The Hague-based International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling today on the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute. The decision (which you can read in full here) calls on the parties to pull back their troops for the disputed area, negotiate, and generally behave reasonably. Thailand, which had opposed ICJ involvement, seems pleased that the court asked ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling today on the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute. The decision (which you can read in full here) calls on the parties to pull back their troops for the disputed area, negotiate, and generally behave reasonably. Thailand, which had opposed ICJ involvement, seems pleased that the court asked both sides to withdraw military forces from the disputed area. That element of the decison attracted just eleven of sixteen judges, while the other elements of the ruling got 15 votes.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling today on the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute. The decision (which you can read in full here) calls on the parties to pull back their troops for the disputed area, negotiate, and generally behave reasonably. Thailand, which had opposed ICJ involvement, seems pleased that the court asked both sides to withdraw military forces from the disputed area. That element of the decison attracted just eleven of sixteen judges, while the other elements of the ruling got 15 votes.

The decision may create a fresh opportunity for ASEAN to attempt mediation. With  Indonesia in the lead, the regional organization brokered a deal in May that included international observers for the disputed area. But the observers were never sent and ASEAN’s mediation efforts have bogged down since then.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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