Peace has really come to Cambodia, as reflected in the steadily falling defense budget. A few years ago, half the national budget went to defense. Over the last few years it was 35 percent and next year it will 23 percent. This reflects the final demise of the Khmer Rouge, an extremist communist political movement that has operated since the 1960s. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge took over the country and killed over two million people in the name of "social progress."