You’ve probably wondered why the United States spends so much time and money propping up dictatorships, including Communist ones like the Khmer Rouge. The short answer is the political philosophy of pragmatism, also known as realpolitik.
U.S. Rapprochement with China and Conflict in Southeast Asia
Realpolitik centers on pragmatic objectives in foreign policy, diplomacy, and international relations. It’s why, at the height of the Cold War, America sent aid Communist China and eventually recognized the PRC. Because what was good for the more militantly Communist and political weaker Chinese was bad for the more moderate but politically powerful Soviets.
Similarly, the brutal Khmer Rouge was allied with Mao’s China against the Soviet Union, and also sat on the border of Vietnam, who were pro-Soviet. The United States obviously did not provide material and logistical support to Pol Pot because he was fighting for freedom or human dignity. It did so because a fundamental principle of realpolitik is “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Strange bedfellows are changed quickly under realpolitik. For example, the US later decided to start selling arms to Vietnam, because of Vietnam’s location and strategic importance as a counterweight to a rising China.
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