Narrative War

The guns may have fallen silent along the Thai-Cambodian border, but the battle has not ended.

- 

Instead, it has shifted to a different front – one where perception, rhetoric and propaganda are the decisive weapons. The fragile ceasefire now holds not because the two neighbors have found common ground, but because both are seeking to win the argument in the court of global opinion and in the hearts of their own citizens.

In this contest, Cambodia appears to have seized the initiative. With a tightly controlled political system, centralized leadership, and a commanding voice on social media, Phnom Penh has portrayed itself as both victim and defender of sovereignty.

Images, allegations and emotional appeals have flooded the information space, often regardless of factual accuracy. What matters is not the truth of each claim but the speed and resonance with which it is delivered.