This article aims to unpack global-local dynamics in education drawing on the cases of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and ASEAN Citizenship Education in Cambodia. By analysing recent education strategies and policies, curriculum framework, and textbooks, this paper unveils (a) to what extent have ESD and ASEAN citizenship been incorporated in education plans and policies, as well as curriculum and textbooks, (b) what changes are there in the discourses around each norm over time; and (c) how has the ministry appropriated these two norms similarly and differently to fit its agenda. These two cases highlight the fact that nation-(re)building has been, and still is, the key development agenda in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, and this agenda works as a filter through which transnational norms are interpreted and appropriated. A comparison between the two cases also highlights that the ministry strategically utilises time to achieve their best interests.