MARRIAGE IN CAMBODIA
Men typically get married between 19 and 24, women between 16 and 22. It is regarded as embarrassing to be over 25 and not married. Marriages arranged by parents and other relatives were the norm in the old days and are still common in many rural areas. In the cities, love matches have become increasingly more common.
In traditional arranged marriages, the families of the bride and groom employ representatives to check out the background of a potential spouse and his and her family. If this goes well and the permission is granted to marry, the families exchange presents, make plans and consult a fortuneteller about an auspicious day to get married. There are no rules about marrying within or without a community. Marriages between cousins are generally okay. There are also no rules about where newlyweds live after the get married although many have traditionally moved in with the wife’s family.
In the old days, polygamy and adultery were common in the Cambodian court. Polygamy was legal before the Khmer Rouge era but was not widely practiced. Today informal polygamy arrangements exist because of a shortage of males, a legacy of the Khmer Rouge era. In theory a man may have multiple wives if he can afford them, but this is rare in practice; the first wife may veto the taking of a second wife. Concubinage also exists, although it is more frequent in the cities. While second wives have certain legal rights, concubines have none.
The choice of a spouse is a complex one for the young male, and it may involve not only his parents and his friends, as well as those of the young woman, but also a matchmaker. A young man can decide on a likely spouse on his own and then ask his parents to arrange the marriage negotiations, or the young person's parents may make the choice of spouse, giving the child little to say in the selection. In theory, a girl may veto the spouse her parents have chosen. [Source: Library of Congress, December 1987 *]
Courtship patterns differ between rural and urban Khmer. Attitudes in the larger cities have been influenced by Western ideas of romantic love that do not apply in the countryside. A man usually marries between the ages of nineteen and twenty-five, a girl between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two. Marriage between close blood relatives is forbidden. After a spouse has been selected, a go-between meets with the parents and broaches the subject of marriage. Then each family will investigates the other to make sure its child is marrying into a good family. When both sides agree to the marriage and presents have been exchanged and accepted, the families consult an achar to set the wedding date. In rural areas, there is a form of bride-service; that is, the young man may take a vow to serve his prospective father-in-law for a period of time. *
Marriage Under the Khmer Rouge
In the Khmer Rouge era, marriage like everything else was forced and controlled by the Khmer Rouge, often with ideological aims in mind. Ugly people were matched up with beautiful people, peasants were joined with urbanites and the illiterate were united with intellectuals in an effort to create a better society. Not surprisingly many of these couples divorced after the Khmer Rouge years were over.
A mother of five told AP that one day when she was 18 she was taken to a barn with 15 boys and 14 other girls. "There was little speech that said, ‘Be good couples together’ and scarves were exchanged,” she said. "That was it. We were married." She said she was matched up with a boy her age. "I don’t remember what I first thought when I saw him in front of me," she said. "All I remember is that I was terrified. I didn't say any anything. You could get killed for that." They lived together for a month, with no time off from work and guards watched over them to make sure the marriage was consummated.
On the marriage of Khmer Rouge survivor Pom Sarun, Joanna R. Munson wrote: “Around April of 1977, Sarun was assigned to marry Choeuth Sarath. She says, "Because I have no children, like that, they select by themselves that we need to marry this, this, who." Before 1975, Sarath was a Lon Nol soldier. He was married to the sister of a Khmer Rouge soldier, and this caused problems. Sarath was imprisoned, but he escaped and came to work in the same cooperative as Sarun. Sarun recalls, "We stay like brother and sister, no love....He and me never touch because I am not happy and very tired." [Source: Story of Pom Sarun told by Joanna R. Munson, Documentation Center of Cambodia, d.dccam.org ]
In 1974, Khmer Rouge survivor Mousa Sokha—aka Sun Sokha, a former president of a women’s sub-district association in Democratic Kampuchea (DK) Regime—was married to an ammunition carrier youth, called comrade Noh Loas. Bunsou Sour of the Documentation Center of Cambodia wrote: “Mentioning about the wedding, she seemed to change her facial expression. She said that she should not marry too young, because she still loved working. She told me, “I regretted for marrying…I've been regret till today…if I had not married, nothing would have happened. As a wife, I had to think about my family—living conditions and the kids—so I spent very little attention to working.” When she was single, there had been many men admiring her beauty, and plenty of them got broken-hearted when she got married. One of them was a youth, called comrade Sen, who had been living in the same village with her. Comrade Sen had been a close friend of comrade Noh Loas. He had climbed up to Sokha's house in the middle of the wedding days and uttered, “I don't care about the wedding, since we are not a predestined couple! However, I'll be waiting for you forever, no matter how many children you have.” “At that time, I was young and bright; I am not proud about this…there were many people in the village, who adored my beauty, even Elder Matt Ly's nephew. His family also proposed to my family for marriage,” she continued. [Source: Bunsou Sour, Documentation Center of Cambodia, d.dccam.org ]
Sokha married in 1974, at the age of 15, and her husband was 17. Their marriage had been arranged since they were young. The parents of the two sides worked together in the village. Comrade Noh Loas's father was a squad chief, while Sokha's was a village chief. Sokha and her husband had always played together when they were kids. The villagers had always teased them about their relationship. Sokha's mother-in-law had usually said to Sokha's parents, “When they grow up, I'll marry them.” As the strikes had broken out, Sokha had been ordered to go to Po En village, while Comrade Noh Loas to Chymoan village. When both of them had grown up, the elderly of both sides revised their promise. Even though Comrade Noh Loas already had a new fiancée, he broke the engagement with her and married Sokha. Sokha revealed, “The elderly reconsidered our past relationship. My husband was going to marry his fiancée; but most people disapproved of it, so he broke the engagement with her. When his mother inquired him about me, he was silent. So his parents proposed the marriage to my family in a traditional way, and he abandoned his fiancée.” Before married, comrade Noh Loas was studying at grade 7.
Under the Khmer Rouge. illicit sex was a crime punishable by death.
Cambodian Weddings
Most couples get married in a traditional Cambodian Buddhist ceremony or some kind of village celebrations. In the cities and towns, some couples have Western-style weddings with the bride in a white dress. It is not unusual for the equivalent of a year’s salary or more to be spent on a wedding. Generally the bride’s family bears the brunt of the wedding expenses, with the groom’s family providing some money to them to help defray the costs.
Weddings are big deals. Every town has a wedding shop, with Western dresses and traditional costumes. Families can hire caterers and get the ceremony videotaped. Even the poor try to spend as much as they can to provide good wedding.
The traditional wedding is a long and colorful affair. Formerly it lasted three days, but in the 1980s it more commonly lasted a day and a half. The ceremony begins in the morning at the home of the bride and is directed by the achar. Buddhist priests offer a short sermon and recite prayers of blessing. Parts of the ceremony involve ritual hair cutting, tying cotton threads soaked in holy water around the bride's and groom's wrists, and passing a candle around a circle of happily married and respected couples to bless the union. After the wedding, a banquet is held. In the city, the banquet is held at a restaurant; in the country, it is held in a temporary shelter and is prepared by the two families. Newlyweds traditionally move in with the wife's parents and may live with them up to a year, until they can build a new house nearby. [Source: Library of Congress, December 1987 *]
These patterns changed drastically under the communists. The Khmer Rouge divided families and separated the men from the women. The father, mother, and children frequently were separated for many months. A man and woman often did not have time to consummate a marriage, and sexual relations were limited by long separations. Extramarital relations and even flirtations between young people were heavily punished. *
Traditional Cambodian Weddings
Guy Delauney of BBC News wrote: “A traditional Cambodian wedding is hard to miss - there's usually a red and white marquee blocking off half the road in front of the bride's house, and loudspeakers blasting out anything from Khmer wedding music to the chants of Buddhist monks. At the entrance to the marquee there will be a photo of the bride and groom. [Source: Guy Delauney, BBC News, March 21, 2011]
In a traditional wedding, the bride wears a special “sampot” (sarong), necklaces, bracelets and anklets while the groom wears puffed-out pants and a jacket. For those that can afford it, costume changes are a big part of a wedding. The bride and groom in rich families may change into as many as seven different outfits.
A traditional wedding features a Buddhist ceremony, feasting and events that may stretch out over three days. It begins with a procession of family and friends, carrying food and drinks, to the bride’s house, where the couple sits before a table piled high with food, and lit with candles. A sword to ward off evil is displayed.
In a ceremony presided over by a monk, locks of the bride’s and groom’s hair are cut off in remembrance of their puberty ceremonies and mixed in a container to symbolize their future together. The climax of the wedding is the ceremonial tying of the bride’s and groom’s wrists with white cotton string. Knots are tied on the string to symbolize good luck. In some wedding ceremonies the couples exchange presents and rings instead of having their hair cut off and their wrists are tied together with a red string that has been dipped in holy water. Married guest pass a candle and offer blessings to the newlyweds. Money is given to the couple in envelopes.
Wedding feasts have traditionally been big events. Large wedding feasts feature large amounts of meat, fruit and cakes and musicians who play songs on traditional instruments. After the meal is over the bride gives all the guests cigarettes and the groom follows, giving them all matches. Some couples go to Angkor Wat to have their pictures taken.
Historical and Legendary Basis of the Khmer Wedding
In Khmer wedding, it has a lot of ceremonies held in chronological orders. They show the historical roots related to the Buddha’s period which existed ages ago. According to a book “Khmer Wedding Rules” of Oknha Nov, it puts that in ancient Khmer wedding laws, people perform a song describing God Vesandor Borom Pothisat arranging the marriage between his children – Chealy and Kroesna. And some other songs are about the marriage arrangement of God Ream and Seda. Oknha Nov wrote that the current wedding preparations are arranged according to the rules drawn up by King Preah Chey Chesda Thebdey. [Source: Tourism of Cambodia =]
According to the king’s book, it puts that all ceremonies in Khmer wedding are related to mythical stories such as a story "Som Sla Kanseng". It is told that there were two men who went to feed their buffalos in the field would like to make friends with each other and wanted to be relative by marriage with each other because one had a son and the other had a daughter. In order to prove their words, they ask for betel nuts packed in krama from each other to show their promise that their children would marry to each other. =
Another story is “the three betel flowers”. It describes that there were four men who had different skills – swimming, shooting, fortune telling, and magic. After completing their study, they returned home. Along the way back near a stream, the fortune teller said that day they were going to meet a girl and become their wife. Then a big bird swooped down on a girl, Khemry, who was having a bath. Right away the shooting man took his bow and shot the bird down back to the stream. The swimmer then swam to bring her to the ground but she was just dead. After that the magic man helped her be alive again. All four men felt in love with the lad, so they were judged by the Buddha that she would become a wife of someone who swam to help her because he was able to touch her body first. And the fortune teller, magic man, and shooting man would become the father, mother, and brother respectively. Since then in all weddings, the bride and the groom must have three betel flowers in order to show gratitude towards their parents and brothers/sisters. =
Setting-the-date ceremony and the groom holding the scarf are told that Prince Thaong was married to Princess Tevtey, a daughter of the sea dragon king. After setting the date already, Tevtey had to bring him to her father at dragon world, so the sea dragon’s daughter asked the prince to hold her scarf in order to dive into the dragon world. In the meanwhile, the dragon king commanded his man to kill the prince at the gate in order to test the prince’s ability. But the daughter had known this; hence, she disguised herself as the prince by changing her skirt and it was put on the prince instead so that the killer was not able to kill the prince. That is why in the current Khmer wedding it was seen that there is clothes change between the groom and the bride, and the groom holding the bride’s scarf in to the room, accompanied by “Phat Cheay and Neang Neak” songs, etc. =
The ceremony called “Chey Haong Sousdey Haong Men Haong” in wedding ceremony performed until now is followed by an ancient story recorded in “the rules of wedding” book. It describes that Once upon a time there were two brothers – Chey and Sousdey. At that time, there was no king to continue after the previous king had died in Cambodia, so the officials in the palace relied on the holy elephant and horse to find a man to be their king. Then the animals approached the brothers’ house. Consequently, they knew that one of the brothers was the suitable man to be crowned. Chey became the king and Sousdey became his assistant at the same time. When crowned, the people whooped to bless the king. They said “Chey Haong Sousdey Haong Men Haong” simultaneously. The blessing is adapted to use in the wedding until now. =
"Bongvil Popil" ceremony in the Khmer wedding is also written in “collective Khmer legends” book, volume 9. According to the legend, it is told that once upon a time, there was a man named Chey Sorya who had completed the magic training already from Eyso God, so he asked the God for a sacred relic as a blessing tool for the weddings of human being. Then the God gave the man a replica of his penis and a replica of his wife’s vagina as the blessing tools to spread their reputation in the world. Eyso God took diamond sand from the universe to make a gold banyan leaf representing his wife’s vagina and took a diamond rock from Himalaya Mountain to make a candle representing his penis and supposed them to be “two blessings”. He then told the man to take the candle wrapped in the banyan leaf to circle three times around grooms and brides in order to inhale the smoke making them powerful. The “Popil” ceremony is believed to bring harmony and joyfulness for the new couples making them successful in all challenges. Since Khmer people firmly and sincerely believe in “Popil”, it is performed not only in wedding ceremony but also in other ceremonies such as housewarming, birthday, etc. =
"Holding a Sword" tradition in the wedding progress is also told that once upon a time there was a high ranking knight in Peareansey Palace, who fell in love with a daughter of the villager and deposit a piece of gold as a dowry and promised to marry in three months’ time. Three years had gone, so she was married to her neighbor villager but on the wedding day, the knight appeared and took out his sword and killed the man who was the groom. Then the chief clergyman had prayed to dismiss all bad things at the place. The clergyman had analyzed on the power of the sword. That is why people use a sword in the wedding when the bride and the groom are in pair for blessing. =
Choosing a Date for a Khmer Wedding
Wedding ceremony is very meaningful for each of individual’s life who follows their tradition and the laws of the country. That is why this ceremony is carefully dealt with concerning to choosing the date which is believed to bring luck and harmony for the people’s lives and starting a new families. Some families do not allow their children to marry in the rain season and some delay it for two years after the engagement ceremony because of the fortune telling. [Source: Tourism of Cambodia =]
According to Mr. Nhean Phoeun, a researcher and publisher of Khmer tradition of national and international festival committee, he said that Khmer tradition allows people to marry only in a period of six months in a year but not the other six. Wedding can be carried out only in the 30-day months. Those six months could be in early May, July, October, January, and March. But for engagement ceremony and matching the natural chemistry between son and daughter, they could be performed in any month. =
He continued that for the above months, there are only 7 days of each month that are good days. According to the Khmer tradition, they should not perform on their birthday, religious day, lunar or and solar eclipse, and during Khmer new years. Actually, the reason people do not get married in the rain season is that there are a lot of rains that make it difficult for the wedding reception, procession, and other ceremonies. It is also difficult for the guests travelling to wedding party and it is when farmers are busy with their fields. =
Khmer Rouge Wedding
Describing the wedding of Khmer Rouge survivor Mousa Sokha, Bunsou Sour of the Documentation Center of Cambodia wrote: “Sokha and comrade Noh Loas seemed to be luckier than their fellow villagers, for a month after their wedding a new law was passed banning people from decorating their bodies with imperialists’ jewelry. Sokha recalled, “It was barely a month after my wedding that the new law was put in effect. Even false jewelry was banned. Everything used for bodily decoration was considered as imperialist.” Sokha spoke with laughter that by that time, five to ten couples had already been forced to marry. If a couple rejected each other, they would be summoned for reeducation. Newly married couples were separated. They could meet their spouses once a month, by bribing village chiefs and the women’s unit. [Source: Bunsou Sour, Documentation Center of Cambodia, d.dccam.org]
“In her wedding, Sokha had been accompanied by bridesmaids, worn diverse jewelry, like necklaces and rings, but dressed in black clothes with tire sandals. The party was even entertained by performance of the local art club. She remembered that a singer, called comrade Dam Pheng, sang a song entitled Dam Pheng. Dam Pheng was a chief of an art club, in Tnaot sub-district, Ponnea Krek district. He was born in Ba Phnom district, Prey Veng province, into a poor peasant family. In a revolutionary novel (Quoted from various newspapers and magazines) named “The Courage of Kampuchea's Revolutionary Citizens and Army,” from page 34 to 58, described a detailed account of Dam Pheng's biography. He was an outstanding revolutionist of the time. Remarkably, there were published poems composed by him. The poem was written “I caress my delicate, red heart and I make it stronger day-by-day, so that it is ready to serve our priceless revolution and help the poverty-stricken proletariat. And now the time has come; Kampuchean people is in desperate need for it to relieve their suffering.”
“About ten days after singing in the wedding, he was imprisoned. A notebook of political study is stored in the Documentation Center. This book described about "different characteristics of revolutionary cultural conservationists and anti-revolution cultural conservationists," and criticized that "these two cultural conservationists were completely distinctive." The former possessed the absolute spirit to struggle against the enemies in order to liberate their nation and people, and class. Whereas the latter cared only about money; they did what they could to get money, although it meant betraying their nation and countrymen.
“Only three days after marriage, Sokha was separated from her husband, leaving them with no time to share their new life together, for the reason that Angkar needed more forces to overthrow Phnom Penh. The order letter written to Sokha's husband was "comrade Loas, you have to go to the battlefield." Sokha, then, beseeched the sub-district chief to let her husband stay, but that was a useless effort. In reply, the chief reminded her about her pledge when she requested permission to marry from the authorities "Comrade, you have to devote yourself, for when you came here to fill in the forms to get permission to marry, you promised to us already." Just a night after Sokha's husband had gone, Phnom Penh was captured. So comrade Loas returned to live with Sokha and their first baby was soon born. In 1976, Sokha gave birth to a son. Tragically, just a week later her son died of disease.
Foreign Marriage Ban in Cambodia Lifted
In 2008, Cambodia temporarily banned marriages to foreigners after the International Organization for Migration released a report that indicated that marriage brokers were making profitable business from supplying poor Cambodian brides to South Korean men. In March 2008, the Cambodian government, citing fears of human trafficking due to falsely brokered marriages, banned marriage-brokering, allowing only “love matches.”
In November 2008, Chhay Channyda wrote in The Phnom Penh Post: “A ban on marriages between Cambodians and foreigners aimed at curbing human trafficking has been lifted, officials said Wednesday, adding that new regulations will seek to prevent internet websites from featuring mail-order Cambodian brides.The suspension, begun in late March, was lifted on November 3, but the "new subdecree [regulating marriages] has not yet been widely publicised", said Bith Kimhong, director of the Interior Ministry's Anti-human Trafficking Department. The ban came into effect amid alarm over the rising numbers of brokered unions between South Korean men and poor, uneducated Cambodian women. [Source: Chhay Channyda, The Phnom Penh Post via WUNRN, November 27, 2008 ~]
“In 2004, the South Korean embassy in Phnom Penh issued 72 marriage visas to Cambodian women. By 2007, that figure had jumped to 1,759, with an additional 160 visas issued in the first month of 2008. The new subdecree states that marriages made through agencies or brokers are still illegal, adding that "all fake marriages aimed at labour exploitation, human trafficking or sexual exploitation are prohibited". The subdecree also insists that marriage must be based on the "voluntary policy and will" of the individual. ~
“Bith Kimhong said that under the new rules, foreigners must be physically present in Cambodia in order to be married and must apply for permission with the Foreign Ministry. "The Ministry of Interior, after receiving documents from the Foreign Ministry, has to inform to all the relevant authorities on where the marriage will occur," Bith Kimhong said. "We cannot do like before. This time, foreigners must come to Cambodia to register for marriage," he added, referring to internet unions. ~
“Nop Sarin Sreyroth, secretary general of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre, said that while she applauded the reinstatement of legal marriages between Cambodians and foreigners, the new rules do not outline punishment for foreigners who violate the rules. "We are looking forward to monitoring the government's implementation [of the subdecree]," she said. ~
Marriages to Koreans Banned in Cambodia
Lee Kyung-sook of The Asia Foundation wrote: “In early March 2010, the Cambodian government imposed a provisional ban on international marriages to Korean nationals. The purpose – as reported in a formal document to the Korean Embassy – was “to prevent the trafficking of Cambodian women.” According to Reuters” “The ban was enforced after Cambodian police arrested a woman who had lured 25 girls from rural areas, each of whom paid money to marry South Korean men, government spokesman Koy Kuong said. "This act was trafficking of women and children," he said, adding that the Cambodian court recently sentenced the woman to 10 years in prison. [Source: Lee Kyung-sook, The Asia Foundation’s Senior Program Officer in Korea, kslee@asiafound.org]
“The business of Korean international marriage brokers boomed in the last decade. In 2005, marriages to foreigners accounted for 14 percent of all marriages in South Korea. Marrying women from developing countries, such as Cambodia, became increasingly popular in Korea as more Korean women from rural areas moved to cities to pursue work opportunities, making it more difficult for the remaining rural male population to find marriageable Korean women. Now, although the percentage has decreased slightly since 2005, roughly one out of 10 marriages in Korea is still an international marriage, and a significant number of them are unions between Korean men with women from the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Since 2007, when the Vietnamese government strengthened regulatory enforcement against illegal and falsely brokered marriages, marriages between Cambodian and Korean men increased drastically. Now, 60 percent of all international marriages in Cambodia are with Korean men – almost double the number from 551 in 2008 to 1,352 in 2009. To date, approximately 2,500 Cambodian brides have married Korean men, according to local news sources.
“The Cambodian government says that the recent ban will help eradicate “irregular practices” by Korean international marriage brokers, which violate the local marriage law. Phnom Penh officials point to the inhumane matchmaking process by international brokers, who often arrange meetings of up to 300 Cambodian women for a single Korean client during their so-called “marriage-tours” to the country. Prior to the recent ban, a Cambodian broker was caught and arrested for arranging a meeting of 25 prospective brides for a Korean client. The broker was sentenced to 10 years in prison.”
Marriages to Foreign Men Over 50 Banned in Cambodia
In March 2011, Guy Delauney of BBC News wrote: “Cambodia has imposed a partial ban on foreign men marrying local women - would-be bridegrooms will now have to be less than 50 years old. The government says it is trying to prevent exploitation - and promote true love and what it calls "honest marriages". But there has been a mixed reaction to the ruling. The ban does not affect foreign women - or Cambodian men. [Source: Guy Delauney, BBC News, March 21, 2011 ++]
“Some participants in mixed marriages have said the ban is discriminatory. "We've been married 10 years, we have children, we're doing very well," said Jim Gollogly, a British doctor who married his wife when he was in his 50s and she was in her 30s. "I don't think she wants to get rid of me right at the moment. I think she's done well out of it and I've done well out of it. And I don't see why that should be banned." Dr Gollogly's wife holds a passport from Thailand - so they would not have been affected by the new rules. But others will not be so fortunate. "They probably think there are too many older guys coming along and picking up young Khmer girls," said Dr Gollogly. "And they feel that it's a bit immoral or something. But the girls should be of legal, consenting age - and if they are of consenting age, 18 or above, they should be able to make their own decisions."++
“The authorities seem to have been motivated by aesthetic considerations as much as anything else. A government spokesman said it did not look "fitting" to see a young Cambodian woman with a much older foreign man. They have also ruled that younger foreign men must have an income of at least $2,500 (£1,539) a month to marry a local bride. That is many times more than what the average Cambodian earns. ++
"It seems to me that if there's any law about anything it should be applied to everyone - not just foreigners," said Dr Gollogly. "It seems there's a good Asian tradition that older guys marry younger girls - and I don't see why that should be a problem just for foreign men," he said. But perhaps true love need not be thwarted. There is no law against couples of any age or nationality getting married outside Cambodia. They may just have to do without the traditional Khmer wedding they had been planning. ++
Divorce in Cambodia
Divorce can be initiated by either the husband or wife on various grounds. Generally, common property is divided and whatever property each brought into the marriage is divided. Divorce is legal, relatively easy to obtain, but not common. Divorced persons are viewed with some disapproval, and they are not invited to take part in the blessing of a newlywed couple.
Some of the grounds for divorce are incompatibility, prolonged absence without good reason, abandonment by either partner, refusal of the husband to provide for the family, adultery, immoral conduct, and refusal, for more than a year, to permit sexual intercourse. A magistrate may legalize the divorce. Each spouse retains whatever property he or she brought into the marriage. Property acquired jointly is divided equally. Divorced persons may remarry, but the woman must wait ten months. Custody of minor children is usually given to the mother. Both parents continue to have an obligation to contribute financially toward the rearing and education of the child. [Source: Library of Congress, December 1987]
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Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Tourism of Cambodia, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Global Viewpoint (Christian Science Monitor), Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, NBC News, Fox News and various books and other publications.
Last updated May 2014