Harish Mehta
Encyclopedia
Harish Mehta is a journalist, specialist author on Southeast Asian affairs, and historian of American Foreign Relations.
, whom the authors have known personally for twenty-one years. Although this is an authorized biography published in 1999, book reviewers have written that the account is fairly balanced, and provides new perspectives on a leader whose life has been shrouded in secrecy. A new and updated edition of the Hun Sen biography is forthcoming in 2012: it will contain more than 100 new pages, and new interviews with Hun Sen.
Mehta's 2001 book Warrior Prince: Norodom Ranariddh, Son of King Sihanouk of Cambodia is based on several hours of interviews with Prince Norodom Ranariddh
, his wife Princess Marie Ranariddh (interviwed by Julie), his brother Prince Norodom Chakrapong
, and Prince Chakrapong's son Prince Norodom Buddhapong, as well as several actors in Cambodian politics. King Sihanouk was critical of the book, and issued several press statements in order to correct the historical record.
As a New Left Historian, Mehta is supportive of the efforts by King Norodom Sihanouk
to create a neutral and non-aligned Cambodia. Mehta praises King Sihanouk's influential role as a leading global voice for national liberation struggles in several decolonizing countries in Asia in his public statements and in signed editorials in Kambuja magazine. Mehta argues that historians will remember King Sihanouk as a nationalist who attempted to keep his country free from the hegemony of both the United States and the Soviet Union. Prime Minister Hun Sen, likewise, opposes American intervention in his country.
Mehta's 1997 book Cambodia Silenced: The Press Under Six Regimes is the first effort to document the troubled history of the Cambodian press. These three books have been widely cited in historical works and dissertations by scholars.
Mehta has articles forthcoming in the journal Peace and Change, and Diplomatic History in 2012. He is working on a full-length book on North Vietnam's people's diplomacy.
In 1989, he won the Journalist of the Year award from the Press Foundation of Asia, Manila and the Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee, Japan.
(he was in Hodson House), and at the Canning College at the University of Lucknow
. He was an International Freedom Forum
Fellow and graduate student at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D. dissertation at McMaster University
is on North Vietnam's diplomacy during the American war in Vietnam. He argues that the people of North Vietnam conducted remarkably successful diplomacy despite the meager economic and military strength of their country. He has conducted research in the Vietnamese archives, and speaks and writes Vietnamese (tieng Viet).
Jan 2011-Apr 2011 Instructor. History 1702H, World History, From 1800 to the Present, Trent University, Department of History, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. This half-year course surveys global history with emphasis on colonialism, wars of liberation, 20th Century wars and revolutions, modern globalization, and emphasizes gender and race.
Sept 2010-Dec 2011 Instructor. History 1701H, World History to 1800, Trent University, Department of History, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. This half-year course surveys global history with emphasis on types of warfare, empire, hegemony, patriarchy, cross-cultural encounters, and archaic globalization.
Sept-Dec 2010 Lecturer. History 377H1-F, 20th Century American Foreign Relations, Department of History, University of Toronto. This third-year undergraduate course surveys the history of the foreign relations of the United States from 1898 to the present with special focus on U.S. military interventions in the War of 1898, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, with an emphasis on gender and race.
June-Aug 2009 Instructor. History 3KK3, The Vietnam War, Department of History, McMaster University.
Group. In the early-1980s, he was National Affairs Editor/Associate Editor of Gentleman
magazine, a Bombay based features magazine that pursued serious investigative journalism under the helm of editor Minhaz Merchant, and ran stories and columns by the Indian poet Dom Moraes
, and others. Later, Mehta worked as Associate Publisher and Managing Editor of the Bombay-based Imprint magazine when Moraes was editor.
In the late 1980s, he moved to Singapore as Indochina Correspondent for the Business Times
, covering Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. He was then posted as Indochina correspondent in Bangkok. After completing his assignment with the Business Times, he wrote country reports on Thailand for The Economist Intelligence Unit. Mehta has traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia more than one hundred times since 1990.
Harish is married to Julie Mehta
, a scholar of Postcolonial studies, who teaches at the University of Toronto.
Books
Dr. Mehta has written three books on Cambodia: Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia (co-author Julie Mehta) is based on several hours of interviews with Prime Minister Hun SenHun Sen
Hun Sen is the current Prime Minister of Cambodia.He has been the sole leader of the Cambodian People's Party , which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979...
, whom the authors have known personally for twenty-one years. Although this is an authorized biography published in 1999, book reviewers have written that the account is fairly balanced, and provides new perspectives on a leader whose life has been shrouded in secrecy. A new and updated edition of the Hun Sen biography is forthcoming in 2012: it will contain more than 100 new pages, and new interviews with Hun Sen.
Mehta's 2001 book Warrior Prince: Norodom Ranariddh, Son of King Sihanouk of Cambodia is based on several hours of interviews with Prince Norodom Ranariddh
Norodom Ranariddh
Prince Norodom Ranariddh is the second son of former king Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni.-Biography:...
, his wife Princess Marie Ranariddh (interviwed by Julie), his brother Prince Norodom Chakrapong
Norodom Chakrapong
Prince Norodom Chakrapong of Cambodia is the son Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. Following years of guerilla fighting where he earned respect among the Sihanoukist resistance, he became a key figure in Cambodian politics in 1991...
, and Prince Chakrapong's son Prince Norodom Buddhapong, as well as several actors in Cambodian politics. King Sihanouk was critical of the book, and issued several press statements in order to correct the historical record.
As a New Left Historian, Mehta is supportive of the efforts by King Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...
to create a neutral and non-aligned Cambodia. Mehta praises King Sihanouk's influential role as a leading global voice for national liberation struggles in several decolonizing countries in Asia in his public statements and in signed editorials in Kambuja magazine. Mehta argues that historians will remember King Sihanouk as a nationalist who attempted to keep his country free from the hegemony of both the United States and the Soviet Union. Prime Minister Hun Sen, likewise, opposes American intervention in his country.
Mehta's 1997 book Cambodia Silenced: The Press Under Six Regimes is the first effort to document the troubled history of the Cambodian press. These three books have been widely cited in historical works and dissertations by scholars.
Mehta has articles forthcoming in the journal Peace and Change, and Diplomatic History in 2012. He is working on a full-length book on North Vietnam's people's diplomacy.
Awards
As a historian, Mehta has won several academic awards, among which is the Samuel Flagg Bemis Award in 2008 and 2007 given by the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations.In 1989, he won the Journalist of the Year award from the Press Foundation of Asia, Manila and the Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee, Japan.
Education
Born in Lucknow, he was educated at La Martiniere CollegeLa Martiniere College
La Martiniere is a non-denominational public school in India and in France .La Martiniere Schools were founded posthumously by Major General Claude Martin in the early 19th century. Martin had acquired a large fortune while serving the Nawab of Awadh Asaf-ud-Daula and bequeathed a major part of...
(he was in Hodson House), and at the Canning College at the University of Lucknow
University of Lucknow
The University of Lucknow is a university in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is affiliated to University Grants Commission; Association of Commonwealth Universities ; Association of Indian Universities ; Distance Education Council...
. He was an International Freedom Forum
Freedom Forum
The Freedom Forum was created in 1991 under the direction of Al Neuharth, former publisher of USA Today newspaper. Funding was provided by a foundation started by publisher Frank E. Gannett in 1935, called the Gannett Foundation...
Fellow and graduate student at the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D. dissertation at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
is on North Vietnam's diplomacy during the American war in Vietnam. He argues that the people of North Vietnam conducted remarkably successful diplomacy despite the meager economic and military strength of their country. He has conducted research in the Vietnamese archives, and speaks and writes Vietnamese (tieng Viet).
Academic Career
May-June 2011 Lecturer. History 3KK3, The Vietnam War, Department of History, McMaster University. This third-year undergraduate course examines the U.S. war in Vietnam from multiple perspectives.Jan 2011-Apr 2011 Instructor. History 1702H, World History, From 1800 to the Present, Trent University, Department of History, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. This half-year course surveys global history with emphasis on colonialism, wars of liberation, 20th Century wars and revolutions, modern globalization, and emphasizes gender and race.
Sept 2010-Dec 2011 Instructor. History 1701H, World History to 1800, Trent University, Department of History, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. This half-year course surveys global history with emphasis on types of warfare, empire, hegemony, patriarchy, cross-cultural encounters, and archaic globalization.
Sept-Dec 2010 Lecturer. History 377H1-F, 20th Century American Foreign Relations, Department of History, University of Toronto. This third-year undergraduate course surveys the history of the foreign relations of the United States from 1898 to the present with special focus on U.S. military interventions in the War of 1898, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, with an emphasis on gender and race.
June-Aug 2009 Instructor. History 3KK3, The Vietnam War, Department of History, McMaster University.
Journalistic career
He began his journalistic career in the late-1970s as a reporter on Bombay magazine of the India TodayIndia Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...
Group. In the early-1980s, he was National Affairs Editor/Associate Editor of Gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
magazine, a Bombay based features magazine that pursued serious investigative journalism under the helm of editor Minhaz Merchant, and ran stories and columns by the Indian poet Dom Moraes
Dom Moraes
Dominic Francis Moraes , popularly known as Dom Moraes, was a Goan writer, poet and columnist. He published nearly 30 books.-Early life:...
, and others. Later, Mehta worked as Associate Publisher and Managing Editor of the Bombay-based Imprint magazine when Moraes was editor.
In the late 1980s, he moved to Singapore as Indochina Correspondent for the Business Times
Business Times (Singapore)
The Business Times of Singapore is an English-language newspaper published since 1 October 1976 . In 1 January 1994, it became the first English-language newspaper in Asia to launch an online news service called Business Times Online. It is part of the Singapore Press Holdings group.-External links:*...
, covering Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. He was then posted as Indochina correspondent in Bangkok. After completing his assignment with the Business Times, he wrote country reports on Thailand for The Economist Intelligence Unit. Mehta has traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia more than one hundred times since 1990.
Harish is married to Julie Mehta
Julie Mehta
Julie B. Mehta teaches at University College, University of Toronto. Her course, Asian Cultures in Canada, is endowed by Chancellor Emerita Senator Vivienne Poy. Mehta is an author and journalist specializing in Southeast Asia.-Early life and education:...
, a scholar of Postcolonial studies, who teaches at the University of Toronto.