After the Cataclysm: Postwar Indochina and the Reconstruction of Imperial Ideology by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman exposes the devastation inflicted upon Kampuchea, Vietnam, and Laos by U.S. imperialism, examining how the massive destruction of war, economic sabotage, and ideological warfare were used to weaken revolutionary societies and maintain Western dominance. The book also demonstrates how the media distorts history, allocating blame to the…

"Answering the Lie Machine" by Neil McLean provides a detailed rebuttal to widespread Western disinformation about Kampuchea's economic conditions before and after the Vietnamese invasion. The report highlights how, contrary to media claims of mass starvation under Democratic Kampuchea, rice production had reached 3.4 million tons by 1978, demonstrating the effectiveness of the revolutionary agricultural policies. It was only after the military occupati…

Democratic Kampuchea and Human Rights: Correcting the Record by David Boggett examines the manufactured narratives of human rights violations used by Western powers to delegitimize the socialist revolution in Kampuchea. The document meticulously deconstructs the exaggerated and unreliable refugee accounts, showing how allegations of mass executions and starvation were largely fabricated through fifth-hand reports, Cold War disinformation, and sources wi…

"Distortions at Fourth Hand" by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman critically examines how the Western media constructed a false history of postwar Cambodia to absolve the U.S. of its crimes. The study exposes how key atrocity reports were based on staged photographs, unreliable refugee accounts, and estimates from U.S. intelligence sources rather than verifiable forensic evidence. The report also highlights how the widely cited 1.2 million death toll was f…

Ethnic Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge: The Genocide and Race Debate (2021), Theara Thun and Duong Keo confront prevailing assumptions regarding Democratic Kampuchea’s policy toward ethnic Vietnamese during the revolution. Drawing from over fifty-two firsthand interviews and trial testimonies, the study dismantles simplistic racial narratives, revealing that class struggle and national defense—not racial extermination—shaped policy decisions between 1975…

Imperialism and Unequal Development (1977) by Marxist scholar Samir Amin, offers an unflinching structural analysis of the global capitalist system, exposing how imperialism entrenches dependency and underdevelopment in the periphery while securing super-profits in the metropole. Amin dissects the mechanisms by which the international division of labor, unequal exchange, and extraction of surplus value enforce a permanent state of subjugation upon the T…

In Matters of War and Socialism, Anthony Barnett Would Shame and Honor Kampuchea Too Much by Laura Summers, delivers a powerful critique of Western leftist narratives that justify Vietnam’s invasion of Kampuchea. Summers dismantles Barnett’s argument that Kampuchea was the primary aggressor, exposing his reliance on Western intelligence sources and selective reporting. She highlights how Democratic Kampuchea’s struggle for national sovereignty clashed w…

In this email exchange, researcher Joseph Ball challenges historian Stephen Heder regarding the widely accepted estimates of the Khmer Rouge death toll, particularly Ben Kiernan's 20–25% figure. Ball contends that this figure is inflated by an omission of normal mortality. He suggests that Heder's 1980–1981 refugee survey points to a lower toll, around 10%, and critiques Heder's unreliable methodologies that he employed, including demographic extrap…

Kampuchea and the Reader’s Digest by Torben Retboll, exposes the fabrications and distortions in Western media narratives about Democratic Kampuchea. Retboll systematically dismantles the claims made in Murder of a Gentle Land by John Barron and Anthony Paul, revealing their reliance on unverifiable refugee testimonies, misquoted sources, and outright falsifications to depict Kampuchea as a land of ‘communist genocide.’ He highlights how crucial evidenc…

This 1978 article from Yugoslav Socialist Thought examines Vietnam’s invasion of Kampuchea, exposing how Hanoi, under Soviet patronage, aimed to crush Kampuchea’s revolutionary independence and incorporate it into a Soviet-controlled Indochinese federation. The article praises Democratic Kampuchea’s steadfast rejection of domination by both superpowers, highlighting the Party’s commitment to absolute sovereignty, rapid socialist transformation, and self…

Kampuchea's Armed Struggle: The Origins of an Independent Revolution by Stephen Heder, critically examines the historical trajectory of Kampuchea’s revolutionary movement, emphasizing its struggle for autonomy from Vietnamese influence. Heder traces the early communist movement’s subordination to Hanoi, detailing how the Khmer People’s Party (KPP) remained under the oversight of the Vietnamese Workers' Party. The study reveals how the Communist Party of…

This address, Statement to the Conference on Vietnam and Kampuchea by Torben Retboll, delivers a critical condemnation of Vietnam’s invasion of Kampuchea, exposing the contradictions in Hanoi’s justification for its aggression. Retboll argues that Vietnam, having fought for its own self-determination against French and American imperialism, has now become an occupying force, denying Kampuchea the same right. He highlights the hypocrisy of both the Sovie…

Straight Talk on the Trial of Pol Pot by Mike Ely, challenges the dominant Western narrative on Democratic Kampuchea and the Khmer Rouge. Ely critiques the media’s portrayal of Pol Pot’s leadership as one of unprovoked ‘genocide,’ instead emphasizing the devastation caused by U.S. imperialism—the secret bombing campaigns, the Lon Nol coup, and the economic collapse that preceded 1975. The article questions the reliability of Western sources on Khmer Rou…

"The Kampuchean Struggle for National Survival" by Thiounn Mumm provides a firsthand account of Kampuchea’s resistance against Vietnamese occupation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It outlines Vietnam’s expansionist ambitions, dating back to the 1930 founding of the Indochinese Communist Party, and details the 1978 invasion that brought 250,000 Vietnamese troops into the country. The text highlights the revolutionary policies of Democratic Kampuc…

The Sino-Vietnamese Conflict in Southeast Asia by Gareth Porter, examines the geopolitical rivalry between China and Vietnam, exposing the deeper contradictions within the socialist bloc. Porter contextualizes Vietnam’s 1978 invasion of Kampuchea as both an assertion of regional dominance and a reflection of its increasing reliance on Soviet support. The text explores China’s strategic response, including its 1979 border war with Vietnam, as part of a b…

The struggles of Democratic Kampuchea were shaped by the necessity of defending national independence while forging a path of self-reliant development. As highlighted in the 1981 theses, the state sought to resist imperialist encirclement by maintaining non-aligned foreign relations, forging solidarity with Third World nations, and rejecting economic dependency. The principles of self-sufficiency were not merely ideological but a material necessity, as…

This document is a brief review of Michael Vickery’s book on the Kampuchean revolution, written by Volker Grabowsky. It analyzes Vickery’s assessment of social divisions, revolutionary policies, and the contrasting living conditions under the Democratic Kampuchea regime. The review explores critiques of the Vietnamese invasion and occupation; its effects on famine, public health, and political suppression under the Heng Samrin regime. It also discusses…