Three years on from the previous blockbuster, Marvel comic book character Spider-Man returns in his latest adventure. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and his girl Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst) are on the cusp of contentment - but not for long. His ex-friend Harry (James Franco), son of the Green Goblin of the first film, becomes the New Goblin in his desire for revenge against Spider-Man. Fugitive Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), killer of Peter's Uncle Ben, has been transformed into the shape-shifting Sandman, possibly Spider-Man's toughest foe so far. To complicate matters further, a parasitic alien symbiote has attached itself to Peter's suit, giving him even greater powers but also bringing out the evil side of his personality. He has to struggle not only against two major adversaries but also against himself.

When United Nations sponsored elections were held in 1993, there were high hopes that Cambodia would finally be able to escape the nightmare of war, the killing fields, famine, and economic turmoil that its people had endured since 1970. Large amounts of international development assistance, a rapidly expanding NGO sector, and a pragmatic power-sharing arrangement between former adversaries, seemed to bode well for the future. Yet, as the country was once again preparing for elections in 1998, serious tensions and conflicts continued to undermine the transition process.

This book examines Cambodia's uneasy renaissance from years of conflict, isolation and authoritarian rule. It assesses, in particular, the efforts of the government, NGOs, and the international community to facilitate Cambodia's various transitions to peace, democracy, and a market economy, as well as the strengthening of civil society.

Copublished with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development