By bno - Ho Chi Minh Office The current flare-up between Thailand and Cambodia feels different from previous disputes. What initially appeared to be a limited skirmish over disputed borderland and nationalist rhetoric now carries the faint,

The deadly conflict on the Thai-Cambodian border pits a longtime United States ally with decades of experience against a relatively young armed force with close ties to China.

"The U.S. already flunked the test and that should be a wakeup call," a former senior U.S. State Department official told Newsweek.