In his article “Cambodia’s Curse the Modern History of a Troubled Land” Joel Brinkley portrays the current state of Cambodia and its seeming inability to change. In the “Preface” Brinkley an, at the time inexperienced journalist discusses his first big job in covering the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the refugee crisis. Brinkley goes on to discuss the effects of the Vietnam War on Cambodia and describes the upcoming of the Khmer Rouge a group who wiped out half of Cambodia’s population. Brinkley further states his experience in Cambodia and the challenges he and his team faced personally when on route to a refugee camp on the Thai border. Here he describes the shocking conditions of such a camp and the “hellish, unbearable” life refuges