By Wu Qiaoxi | 2025-11-06

The United States and Cambodia are reviving their flagship joint military exercise, Angkor Sentinel, after an eight-year pause, signaling renewed cooperation and confidence-building between the two nations.

The countries have not announced a date for its resumption.

Centering on humanitarian assistance, the upcoming drills will include engineering support, medical outreach and peacekeeping training. These practical missions are designed to boost coordination and disaster response readiness across the region.

The move comes after years of growing Cambodian dependence on China.

"China is now Cambodia’s largest trading partner and investor, and an increasingly close partner on defense and security," the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said in July.

Talks in Malaysia

The two sides announced the exercise's revival following their talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus in Kuala Lumpur.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth represented Washington, while Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Seiha represented Phnom Penh.

Following the meeting, Hegseth wrote on X: "We agreed to restart our premier bilateral military exercise with Cambodia. The KL [Kuala Lumpur Peace] Accords demonstrate President Trump's commitment to peace through strength."

Sponsored by US Army Pacific and launched in 2010, Angkor Sentinel aims to improve interoperability and build capabilities for peacekeeping and disaster relief. The drills went into hiatus in 2017 when Phnom Penh called them off ahead of national elections.

Reducing Cambodia's tilt toward China

During the eight-year pause, Cambodia increasingly tilted toward Beijing, opting instead to participate in the Golden Dragon joint drills with China.

With the resumption of defense cooperation, Washington cited Cambodia's "diligent pursuit" of peace and security, according to a White House statement. Reports in Phnom Penh indicated plans to expand training opportunities for Cambodian officers at American military academies, including West Point and the US Air Force Academy.

Analyzing the move as a strategic recalibration, Southeast Asia geopolitical analyst Seng Vanly told Cambodia's Kiri Post that the decision "reflects Washington's pragmatic move to re-engage Phnom Penh amid growing Chinese influence, especially at Ream Naval Base."

For Cambodia, it "signals an effort to diversify security partners and show a more balanced foreign policy," he said.

"Resuming military exercises and lifting the arms embargo could restore confidence and reopen communication channels between the two militaries," he said.

Him Rotha, deputy director at the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies, described the decision as a constructive step. The revival "reflects the efforts between the two countries to rebuild trust and confidence with one another," he told the Kiri Post.

Benefiting the region

The restoration of Angkor Sentinel serves broader regional interests, said regional observers.

"This is good news for Southeast Asia as it reflects Washington's continuous interest in the region and its willingness to engage with Cambodia," Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a security researcher at Australian National University in Canberra, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The warming ties follow a series of US defense and diplomatic moves. The USS Savannah made the US Navy's first Cambodian port call in eight years when it visited in late 2024, and the two militaries held their first joint defense dialogue since 2017. Furthermore, officials have discussed a possible future US naval visit to Ream Naval Base.

As Sophal Ear, an associate professor specializing in Asian studies and other fields at Arizona State University, told the SCMP, bringing back Angkor Sentinel illustrates a "slightly reduced Chinese monopoly" over Cambodia's defense relationships and reflects renewed US engagement in a region that has become acutely "strategically contested."