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Essay Subject: Psychological analysis of Cambodian dictator. Formative influences, rise to power, ideology, tactics, leadership, genocide.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Psychological analysis of Cambodian dictator. Formative influences, rise to power, ideology, tactics, leadership, genocide. Paper Introduction: Psychological Analysis of Pol Pot Introduction Although Pol Pot is dead and has not actually been in power for two decades, his effect on Cambodia continues. Cambodia has not yet been able to recover from the Khmer Rouge regime and the civil war that resulted from their overthrow. Brightman (1998) noted that some of the results of the Khmer Rouge regime can never be overturned. They eliminated certain strains of rice, destroyed old books, costumes, masks, and icons, and attempted to create a homogenized society reflecting agrarian and Communist values. The leader of that effort was Pol Pot. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Many people were killed outright, because they weresuspect for some reason. Underneath thisCentral Committee was the S-21, which was the national security apparatusenforcing the purges of party members and others. (1998). Pol Pot means "the original Cambodian." There is very littleknown about his personality at this point. Hundreds of thousands of people arethought to have died in the "killing fields" of Cambodia. He was originally with the Khmer rouge fightingLon Nol. Far EasternEconomic Review, 162(18), 18-2 . and Thayer, N. It was his brand of Maoist radicalism that was todistinguish the CPK. He was influenced by thecultural revolution, according to Chandler, but also strongly influenced bythe Cambodian nationalist movement. Thismilitant, agrarian commune specialized in both rice production and guerillawarfare. Sihanouk wasultimately overthrown and replaced by General Lon Nol in 197 . The designof the state as ruled by a central committee, and enforced by young,radical cadres, enabled him to obtain both massive power and ongoingcontrol of changes in the country. Saloth Sar had a relatively strict upbringing in that environment.With his connections, he was able to obtain a scholarship to study in Parisin 1948. He was also typicalin targeting the educated, the wealthy, and the upper and middle classes.He also suspected artists of being impure. The independence movement was gradually becomingradicalized. Esquire,13 (4), 82-9 +. (1998). The country was governed from 1975-1979 by a Central Committee, inwhich Pol Pot was Brother Number One, or the head man. Carrier, S. He believed that theCambodian people could do anything, noting that the people who created theancient Angkor Kingdom could do anything. After PolPot became paranoid about another important leader and had him and hisfamily executed, Ta Mok, third in the leadership originally, arrested PolPot and confined him. Heexpressed no regret for the executions and deaths, feeling that it was allworth it in order to preserve a separate Cambodian state. He wanted to build on thatancient Kingdom and regain lost territory from both Thailand and Vietnam.Although he initially worked with the Vietnamese, he harbored a real hatredfor that people, which became akin to a racial hatred eventually. (1993). Time, 153(11), 56-57. Ultimately, however, it was Pol Pot who was put on trialbefore that community and found guilty of treason to the cadres -- becauseof his paranoia and execution of leadership (Carrier, 1998). EssentiallyPol Pot drove him out of the movement and into the arms of the Vietnamese,who Pot hated (McCarthy, 1999). Pol Pot was actually bornSaloth Sar and he was the youngest of seven children (Kiernan, 1998). However, others have critiqued Kiernan, noting that equallylarge numbers of the Khmer Rouge people themselves died under Pol Pot'sregime. At about the same time, two of the top leaders,Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chen defected to Hun Sen (Thayer, 1999a). Psychological Analysis of Pol Pot Introduction Although Pol Pot is dead and has not actually been in power for twodecades, his effect on Cambodia continues. Pilger, J. Harper's,297(1778), 15-17. Ideology Pol Pot has variously been described as a Cambodian Stalin orCambodian hitler. It was the final attempt of Pol Pot to realize his vision of thepure society. Estimates arestill being revised, usually upward, as mass graves are discovered andunearthed. After the French left in 1954, Pol Pot worked his way up theleadership ladder in the Cambodian Communist movement, eventually becomingits head. There is not a lot of information about his early years, andthere is even less information, in some ways, about his years in power.One of the interesting things about Pol Pot is his hiddenness. The consequences ofhis leadership style are well-known. Chandler (1993) believed that he was more like an AsianStalin, because he was a paranoid absolutist with Maoist leanings. It was at this point that Saloth Sar became aware of racism.Race and racism were to become major issues in his life, affecting hisphilosophy, ideology, and actions (Kiernan, 1996). This led to a society that waschaotic, reactive, destructive, and, ultimately, unstable and failed. Thayer, N. One can look at psychology and ideology, but still notreally understand what would make one human being so capable of destroyinghis own people in order to obtain some abstract vision of human society. These young people monitored the behavior of others and wereencouraged to turn in anyone whose actions they doubted. Ta Mok planned to turn Pol Pot over to the United States. This was to continue as part of Pol Pot's mindset even toAnlong Very, the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge. He was described as charmingand self-effacing, and acquaintances indicated that he liked going tomovies (Chandler, 1993). Duch confesses. His oldest brotherbegan a palace career when Pol Pot was young, bringing Pol Pot into thepalace with him when he was six years old. Pol Pot's hand-grenaded mud-fish soup. He viewed Pol Pot as a paranoid absolutist who wasfundamentally Maoist, rather than Marxist. (1999a). Brother Number One. This man, who chose to commit suicide rather than be put on trial, andwho indicated only weeks before his death that he had a clear conscience,is inexplicable. Still dead, though.Time, 153(4), 17. The result of his policy wasgenocide, with estimates ranging from 5 , to 2 million of his ownpeople who were murdered or died because of the policies of the CPK, whichhe led. Pilger (1998) contended that it was actually the United States thattilted the balance toward Pol Pot. (1999). The S-21 operated adetention center in Phnom Penh called Tuol Sleng. Brightman (1998) noted that some of the results of theKhmer Rouge regime can never be overturned. Ultimately, Pol Pot'sparanoia destroyed him, although not for another two decades. According to Thayer (1999), because the United States was notready to receive Pol Pot in March when Ta Mok originally offered to turnhim over, the media learned of the story, published the information, andallowed Pol Pot to escape through suicide. This was the place wheremany of the Khmer Rouge cadres, including former leaders, were tortured andexecuted (Dunlop and Thayer, 1999). Formative Influence It is somewhat surprising that Pol Pot became the Communist tyrantthat he did given his background. Children wereencouraged to turn in other family members. That was to continue to be the history of Pol Pot's leadership and theconsequences for other leaders in the movement. Certainly, the will to power ruled Pol Pot psychologically and hefound an absolutist ideology that enabled him to act this out. Invasion of a neutral Cambodia.During the years between 197 -1973, the United States killed manyCambodians while attempting to destroy Vietnamese bases that werereportedly in Cambodian territory. He indicated that the first phase ofPol Pot's revolution began with the U.S. One of his cousins became a palacedancer and his sister was actually a a royal consort. In order to enforce his strict rules about behavior, thought, andassociation, Pol Pot recruited young people between the ages of 12-2 (Brightman, 1998) These were his cadres that were like the Maoist RedGuards. Pol Pot. Faces, 15(1),6-1 . Far Eastern Economic Review,162(3), 25-26. NY: Westview. Link between leadership, policies, and psychological make-up Much of the theorizing about Pol Pot's psychological make-up is highlyspeculative. In his final interview, Pol Potessentially asserted that he had not failed, although he had made somemistakes. Until that time, he had not known that PolPot was also Saloth Sar. There was little food, shelter,or medical support available to them. America's long affair with Pol Pot. Originally officials indicatedthat he died of a heart attack, but this was not accurate. Many of these who were not immediately killed, or laterdenounced, died simply from the hardship. (1998). The Vietnam War also led to the unjustifiable decision of the UnitedStates to support Pol Pot in 1979, after the Vietnamese installed their owngovernment in Cambodia. For David Chandler (1993), there is also this marriage of psychologyand ideology. Ta Mok, too, was knowledgeable about the executions. However, at this point, Pol Potbegan his erratic and independent course. Thayer, N. Cambodia has not yet been ableto recover from the Khmer Rouge regime and the civil war that resulted fromtheir overthrow. He thought that it was racial issues that were centralfor Pol Pot, as indicated by his pursuit of ethnic Chinese and minoritygroup members. This apparently radicalized theCambodian nationalist movement and Pol Pot took advantage of that. Brightman(1998) noted that he and the other leaders of the Khmer Rouge remained inhiding while they were leading the country, so that they could not beconfronted or gotten to. Pol Pot used the young, whowere similarly fanatical, in order to enforce his idea of the pure society. He was born in 1925 to a family of Khmerpeasants who had royal connections. At that time, the United States backed Pol Pot inorder to gain favor with the Chinese and get some revenge against theVietnamese who had so recently thwarted the country (Pilger, 1998). References Barovick, H., Gray, T., Lofaro, L. At that time, France was tryingto control Cambodia. Far Eastern EconomicReview, 162(4), 24. Pol Pot was typically Communist in his hatred of religion and histendency to target Buddhist monks and their objects. (1996). The focus was on creating aradically egalitarian agrarian-based culture which was non-capitalist andnon-materialistic. How He Gained Power Pol Pot believed that Cambodia should not rely on learning fromothers, but should create its own revolutionary path. The KhmerRouge, under Pol Pot, continued to fight until they gained power in 1975(Kiernan, 1998). Pol Pot's closest brother joined the Cambodian/Vietnamescommunists and took Pol Pot with him. Brightman, M. He led the rebellion against Prince Sihanouk. The Pol Pot regime: Race, power and genocide inCambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-1979. One of the former leaders that fell afoul of Pol Pot was the currentprime minister, Hun Sen. In terms of the genocidal actions of the Khmer Rouge, it is also clearthat Pol Pot was the head man of the movement and that he led the decision-making process. (1999). His vision wasof a purified state which would allow the people to return to their formergreatness and regain the lost territory. (1999). Leadership and Consequences In terms of leadership style, Pol Pot was autocratic, paranoid,fanatical, absolutist, authoritarian, and reactive. Along with this extreme hiddenness -- part psychological and partlearned from the Marxist cell organization in Paris -- was a correspondingparanoia and craving for control. He becamea teacher and revolutionary in Cambodia. Chance of a lifetime. (1999). Tombes, J. It was here that he took the name Pol Pot forhimself. Revival of Cambodia's culture. Initially, however, it applied to the whole country, including allthose driven out of villages and urban areas to become the new agriculturalworkers. Withthe support of the West, Pol Pot was actually able to maintain some powerand access to a seat in the UN. They never operated from a position of trust orsafety, never existed in any way similar to leadership in an open society.Interestingly enough, Pol Pot's brother did not even know that he was theleader of the movement until he saw a poster of Pol Pot six months afterthe Khmer rouge came to power. McCarthy, T. Conclusion In the end, what was left of the Pol Pot regime was a relatively largecommunity of 2 , -3 , Khmer Rouge who were ruled by fear. For example, those who owned any large materialgoods, or were associated with foreigners, were automatically undersuspicion. However, he and his family became suspect by Pol Pot and he fledthe country, eventually returning with the Vietnamese in 1979. At thatpoint, he became part of the Vietnamese-supported government. The American Enterprise, 9(4), 12. Fear and loathing. He wasmore Maoist than conventional Marxist, borrowing from the culturalrevolution of Mao. Like Stalin and Mao, Pol Pot was paranoid about both theleadership and the ordinary people, relying on constant purges to "purify"the country and the revolution. It was also in Paris that Saloth Sar became a revolutionary in theFrench Communist Party. They eliminated certainstrains of rice, destroyed old books, costumes, masks, and icons, andattempted to create a homogenized society reflecting agrarian and Communistvalues. One of the reasons that officials wished to have the opportunity totry Pol Pot in some international venue was to get a clearer picture ofexactly what did happen in Cambodia and who was responsible for what.According to Duch (Dunlop and Thayer, 1999), Pol Pot clearly knew aboutwhat was happening in Tuol Sleng and gave many of the orders forexecutions. He was also typically Communistin his distrust of other brands of Communism, although he obtained supportfrom the Chinese Communists in terms of materials and technical advisors.He was perhaps more motivated by ethnic hatred, particularly of theVietnamese, than other Communist movements. Tactics Like Mao, Pol Pot used both young people and a movement toward radicalsocial change. Kiernan, B. On the other hand, Kiernan (1996) indicated that Pol Pot wascharacterized by two central themes, which were race and the struggle forcentral control. Ultimately, then, the real consequences of Pol Pot's leadershipwas mass death and destruction. Dunlop, N. That population was supposed to engage in agrarianactivity that would enable the government to increase rice production andearn enough income to buy light equipment. NY: Westview. The young cadres were judge and jury, in many instances, authorized toenforce rules and punish violators. In terms of tactics, Pol Pot led the movement into a vast experimentin social reengineering. For Pol Pot, year one was 1975, which was to bethe beginning of a brand new order in Cambodia. The leader of that effort was Pol Pot. There is the merging of secretiveness,paranoia, absolutism, and control with a leadership style that wasautocratic, fanatical, and absolutist. Kiernan, B. (1998). Faces, 15(1), 8-9. He and the Khmer Rouge remained an activethreat until 1998, at least partly because of the support of the UnitedStates, which then wanted to gain access to him to try him as a warcriminal. When the Khmer Rouge tookover Phnom Penh, they drove out the entire population in order to start thesocial revolution. Pol Pot failed in his studies and was sent home in 1953, whichprobably had a major effect on his personality and development. Survival of the paranoid. Tombes (1998) indicated that Pol Potwas fundamentally driven by his vision of former and future Khmergreatness, along with an intense hatred of the Vietnamese. (1998). A modern life. Kiernan noted that he was alsocharacterized by paranoia, literal-mindedness, and an incredible ability tomisread and misapply other political ideas (Kiernan, 1996). When PolPot learned of that plan, he apparently committed suicide (Barovick, et.al, 1999). There are different opinions about what motivated Pol Potpsychologically and ideologically. He indicated that if not for his struggle, Cambodia would haveceased to exist in 1975 and would just have become part of Vietnam. Chandler, D. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.