When Cambodia fell under Pol Pot’s rule in 1975, it was subject to his horrific efforts to “purify” society. The results were the infamous “Killing Fields” and prison camps in which approximately one-third of Cambodia's population was wiped out. Cambodia was mostly cut off from outside contact for several years. In 1979, the Vietnamese Army toppled the regime and temporarily set up their own government.  International pressure eventually brought the return of power to the indigenous Khmer. 

In the 1980s, Western groups were allowed back into the country in various capacities. In 2000, ELIC began negotiations to send a team of teachers to join the faculty of the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, the capital city. RULE is the only law and economic university fully recognized and supported by the government.  The first team of six went in the fall of 2000, and the second team of eight went in the fall of 2001.

Cambodia is in the midst of redefining itself, weighing the pressures of traditional values and the influence of western society. The result is a country eager for change and increasingly western in attitude and amenities, but struggling with the desire to maintain their identity as Khmer. Cambodians are proudly making strides in rebuilding government, economy, education and society with a passionate goal to once again reclaim the title “The Pearl of Asia.”