Revisiting the Political Process Model: The Case of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Civil War

Of all the Marxist-oriented movements which mushroomed up around the globe during the Cold War, it is arguable that perhaps the starkest and most extreme example is that of the Khmer Rouge. Under the leadership of Pol Pot (formerly Saloth Sar), the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia officially from 1975 to1979 before being ejected by a Vietnamese intervention. During this time period an estimated two million Cambodians died through either starvation, disease, torture, or execution. During their rule, the Khmer Rouge undertook a radical social experiment, which was designed to convert Cambodia to an agrarian form of full Communism in one fell swoop. The cities were emptied and currency was abolished, and Cambodian society (then renamed “Democratic Kampuchea”) was thrown back well before the industrial revolution. Lawyers, doctors, engineers, and Cambodians of every stripe were made to work in agrarian communes ran by the cadres of the Khmer Rouge. Where could such a movement originate, and how does it and the Cambodian Civil War fit in with the political process model? To understand this, one must become a little bit more familiar with Cambodia’s past to understand the underlying issues and grievances which coalesced into the Khmer Rouge movement.