The Contextual Relation between Ideology and Political Violence: Khmer Rouge

Southeast Asia Development Research, vol.01, no.01, pp.16-30, 2025 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

During the Cold War era in the world, the ideological approaches of the East and the West driven by the bipolar

system directly influenced the state systems. The Soviet Union’s communist system, in particular, made a significant

impact in Asia, notably due to the dominant role of the People’s Republic of China. With the critical role of China, the

communist regime stood out as a distinctive ideology in the Asian territories. The exploitation efforts by imperial pow-

ers such as the United States, France and the United Kingdom in Asia led to torture and oppression, resulting in the

repugnance and hatred of people. This repugnance not only sparked a revolutionary movement in Vietnam but also gave

rise to terrorist activities in the Cambodian territories. Founded during the Pol Pot regime, the Khmer Rouge violent

regime led to a brutal mass murder of millions of people especially in Cambodia under the Communist regime. The pre-

sent study focuses on the massacre of the Vietnamese people by the Communist Pol Pot violent regime under the com-

munist regime. Thus, the contextual relationship between ideology and political violence is tried to be proved with the

data obtained from this case study, elite interviews and other secondary sources.