Commentary: Trump’s call didn’t stop the fighting in Thailand and Cambodia. Can Malaysia do better?

THE LIMITS OF MEDIATION

The meeting signals a step towards de-escalation, but it doesn’t magically resolve the deep-seated territorial disputes, nationalistic sentiments and historical grievances that fuelled this conflict, Professor Pavin added. “The true test will be whether it leads to genuine, sustained efforts to address the root causes, or merely provides a temporary pause in hostilities.”

That the conflict so easily ignited historical grievances underscores its unfinished nature.

A particularly disturbing aspect – mirroring the India-Pakistan crisis in May – is the jingoism that has reached such levels, even in the local media, that it has prompted some civil society organisations to speak out.

Thailand’s Assembly of the Poor, for instance, last week said: “We resist the ultra-patriotism and militarism that makes states turn their back on people, while manipulating fear, hatred and loss as their political instruments.”

Securing a ceasefire may be the easiest part of Monday’s meeting. The more difficult aspects will however have to be addressed by political-military elites in Cambodia and Thailand, to avoid a repetition of a cycle that, with tourism and investor confidence plunging, both countries can ill afford.

Nirmal Ghosh, a former foreign correspondent, is an author and independent writer based in Singapore.