Pol Pot

== Political ideology ==
{{Quote box
| quote = Pol's aim was to plunge the country into an inferno of revolutionary change where, certainly, old ideas and those who refused to abandon them would perish in the flames, but from which Cambodia itself would emerge, strengthened and purified, as a paragon of communist virtue.
| source=— Journalist Philip Short, 2004{{sfn|Short|2004|p=288}}
| align = right
| width = 25em
}}

Short noted that an underlying doctrinal view among the Khmer Rouge was that "it is always better to go too far than not far enough", an approach that was "at the root of many of the abuses" which occurred under their regime.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=283}} Within the Khmer Rouge itself, hunger, lack of sleep, and long hours of labour were employed at training camps to ramp up the physical and mental pressure and thus facilitate indoctrination.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=318}} Short commented that "no other communist party" in history ever went "so far in its attempts directly to remould the minds of its members".{{sfn|Short|2004|p=318}}

Pol Pot disbanded his Communist Party during the 1980s in order to try to portray himself in a new, favorable light, and because most of his support came from capitalist nations.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}} During that decade, Pol Pot frequently commented that "We chose communism because we wanted to restore our nation. We helped the Vietnamese, who were communist. But now the communists are fighting us. So we have to turn to the West and follow their way."{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}}<ref name="english.cambodiadaily.com"/> This action led Short to suggest that "the veneer of Marxism-Leninism which had cloaked Cambodian radicalism had only ever been skin-deep."{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}}

Short observed that decision-making in Pol Pot's Cambodia was "unruly", making it dissimilar from the centralised, organised processes which were found in other orthodox communist states.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=281}}
Within Democratic Kampuchea, there was much regional and local variation in how party cadres implemented Pol Pot's orders.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=291}}

[[Deng Xiaoping]] criticised the Khmer Rouge for engaging in "deviations from Marxism-Leninism".{{sfn|Short|2004|p=402}} Albania's [[Enver Hoxha]] referred to Pot as a "barbarous fascist".<ref>{{cite book |title=Documents in Communist Affairs |date=1981 |publisher=Springer |page=108}}</ref>
{{external media| float = right| width= 280px|video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?185961-1/pol-pot-anatomy-nightmare Presentation by Philip Short on ''Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare'', March 9, 2005], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
In re-interpreting the revolutionary role of classes and "behind the thinnest of Marxist veneers" on the [[proletariat]], Pol Pot embraced the idea of a revolutionary alliance between the [[peasantry]] and the [[intellectual]]s.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=150}}

Pol Pot's government was [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]],{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=364, 387}} and he has been described as a [[dictator]].{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=185}}
Pol Pot desired [[autarky]], or complete self-sufficiency, for Cambodia.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=186|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=289}} Short suggested that Pol Pot had been "an authentic spokesman" for the yearning that many Khmer felt for "the return of their former greatness", the era of the [[Khmer Empire]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=444}} Chandler noted that Pol Pot, like previous Cambodian leaders, emphasised the belief that Cambodia was purer than other nations.{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=178}} The party leadership has been described as xenophobic.{{sfn|Ciorciari|2014|pp=217, 222}} Pol Pot repeatedly stated or implied that Cambodians were an intrinsically superior group to other ethnic or national groups and that they were immune to foreign influences.{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=96}} Short also noted that the Khmer Rouge generally regarded foreigners as enemies; during the Cambodian civil war, they killed numerous foreign journalists whom they captured, whereas the Vietnamese Marxists typically let them go.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=210}} Native [[religion]]s were banned as part of the Khmer Rouge's attempt to [[State atheism|eliminate religion]] in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hmd.org.uk/genocides/khmer-rouge-ideology|title=Khmer Rouge Ideology|publisher=Holocaust Memorial Day|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613011827/http://hmd.org.uk/genocides/khmer-rouge-ideology|url-status=live}}</ref>