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Jacob Sims

Jacob Sims

The Diplomat

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All in the Family: Citizenship, Crime, and Plausible Deniability in Cambodia

From Hun Sen’s watch to Hun To’s boardroom ties, new naturalization records complicate Hun Manet’s narrative of ignorance.

09.03.2026 7

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Crackdown, Chaos, or Cover-Up in Cambodia?

The current anti-scam campaign is aimed at deflecting scrutiny rather than dismantling the political economy that made industrial-scale scamming...

11.02.2026 9

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

The World Is Failing Cambodia (Again) – and This Time Everyone Is Suffering

Western strategic dissonance, U.N. cowardice, a gutted civil society, and cynical Thai aggression are providing cover for a weakened Hun Sen.

24.12.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

After Prince Group Sanctions, Unanswered Questions for Cambodia’s Interior Minister

The country's Ministry of Interior denies the hard evidence linking Deputy Prime Minister Sar Sokha to major Prince executives.

29.10.2025 8

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

US Southeast Asia Scam Sanctions: The Good, the Bad, and the Incoherent

Treasury’s latest sanctions show momentum, but contradictions in U.S. policy risk blunting their impact.

19.09.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

How Cambodia’s Hun Sen Is Playing the World and Buying Time

The 72-year old’s border conflict theatrics and peace prize pandering aim to deflect scrutiny from a regime that can now add child sextortion to its...

22.08.2025 20

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Reform Theater: Don’t Be Taken In By Cambodia’s Cybercrime Crackdown Promises

A closer look at this week’s “leaked” directive reveals a well-rehearsed strategy to consolidate elite criminal control and stave off external...

18.07.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Moving a Mafia State: Why Thailand’s Punch Lands Harder Than America’s

If you want to influence the Cambodia's regime, you must pressure its criminal economy – not just its formal trade.

16.07.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Sovereignty: The Shield and Sword of Autocrats

As norms collapse and repression globalizes, authoritarian regimes are weaponizing sovereignty to deflect accountability – and they’re winning.

30.05.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Big Moves and Illusions of Reform in Southeast Asia’s Scam Industry

The forced cybercrime industry in Southeast Asia is thriving despite "crackdowns" by its criminal hosts. Will global action match the scale of the...

01.03.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Coercion and Criminality: Cambodia’s Dual Threat to Regional and Global Stability

As the harms of Cambodia's criminalized political economy ripple outward, governments in the region and further afield must move beyond their muted,...

15.01.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims