If nothing else, the month-long international conference in Paris dramatizes the importance and complexity of events in Cambodia. After more than ten years of occupation, Vietnamese troops are due to pull out next month. At issue in Paris is what happens next -- a new round of civil war or a coalition government? And should a coalition include the Khmer Rouge, the murderous ultra-Maoists whom the Vietnamese drove into the jungle?
The Khmer Rouge's principal backer is China. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who also relies on Chinese patronage, is the overall leader of the resistance and likely to head any coalition. Although...