Crushing Weight of Bombs, Money, and Political Revenge: How the International Community Tipped the Scales in the 1975 Cambodian Revolution, The

This project aims to apply the revolutionary theories of Jack A. Goldstone and Theda Skocpol to the 1975 Cambodian revolution. In doing so, the project illustrates how unstable the Cambodian government was prior to its collapse and how the direct and indirect involvement of foreign powers hastened its sudden replacement by the Khmer Rouge regime. This was discovered by comparing Goldstone and Skocpol's theories of revolutions to secondary sources that outlined the conditions present prior to the 1975 Cambodian revolution. Conditions included a large agrarian working class, a weak and unpopular leader, an inefficient and hamstrung military, and an ideologically driving force. Crystalizing these conditions into a full-fledged revolution were the actions of foreign powers. Bombing records of Eastern Cambodia, reports of destabilization, and records of economic and militaristic support of the Khmer Rouge regime were all used to justify this claim. This project highlights the role of the international community in further destabilizing already unstable governments.