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Crafty but clever really has to be one of the backhanded compliments a person can give you. Speaks more to moral character than anything else. But in a way its used by people who play by abstract rules to describe people who win.
Palace life in Cambodia was definitely interesting.. 
With the amount of influence Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam had in Cambodia Independence movement with a hidden communism agenda. I should probably have read his biography before this. But one is committed.
Pol combination of being from the working class with no high education, while being in Paris seeking a purpose made perfect stew in becoming a communist revolutionary. He didn't even read some of the Communist texts because they were too hard (they are).
Funny enough it was the French Revolution that had more of an impact for influencing Pol despite all the Communist signaling, for what was to come. (Cambodia had a monarchy, no serious industrial class, mostly agrarian society)
"In theory Pol belived women should be equal. But with his own wife he didn't see it in the same way. She was an intellectual. But when she talked to other people rather than remain traditionally silent, he didn't appreciate that.". Yikes.
If there is one thing reading about most countries during the Cold War, is the consistency of intrigue. Everybody was always in everybody business. No action if dug well enough won't bring out some mischief.
Sihanouk (Formerk King, then turned Head of State) was an interesting despot. Brutal in his clmap down of communist withing his territory but was friendly with them (China, Russia) on the international scene.
Hubris is the besetting sin of despots everywhere. And Shianouk's rule was no different.
At the end of the day, despots are usually the ones that create the environment for revolutions that occur. Worst they lose "control" of the horrible system and see what it leads to, but they have idea how to have power/rule outside of it.
Which in many ways was the reason why they broke up. Their influence was towards a united federation of Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia). Which was not the goal of Cambodia who just wanted self rule. Not a transfer of masters.
In the decent to extremesim, the first thing is how you define your enemy. Once you frame then as in redeemable evil, then any and all acts done against them is justifiable. The "communist ideology" did this then mixed religious sect thinking to make things quite a stew.
The American author bias sometimes shows in the way frmaes America has minor characters in the narrative or in reactionary mode. (or maybe its deliberate). The Americans may not have directly orchestrated Sihanouk coup but they definitely took maximum advantage.
They let the Hydra head regrow, Sihanouk moving to Pol's side, which pushed the civil war foward and allowed more players into Vietnamese war.
The Americans reaching the end to the number of troops they could commit, bombed Cambodia with abandon and zero strategy to target military installations. Free for all. To Nixon on this was simply a withdrawal strategy from Vietnam while displaying America military strength.
On capturing the capital, the revolutionaries went about a chaotic sacking of the capital leaving about 20,000 dead. They were uncoordinated, executive and indiscriminate killings.
"Fun Fact" - In the first months after Germany retreat from France. 100,000 people were killed in revenge killings between those who had collaborated with the Germans or not. Especially women who took Gemrna lovers.
The revolutionaries attempt at social representation of wealth, class and identity was clumsy and subpar. While executed with a ruthlessness to signal commitment to the cause, its implementation was done a populace which mostly illiterate that jist wanted something better.
Pol created a maximal totalitarian state in a bid towards achieving his economic and social plans, where all human rights and decency were destroyed, towards cruel crude goals. Sports were banned, marriage done by the state, love affairs punished.
The state had no way to motivate it citizens to have consumerism dreams. Without consumerism as a drive, capitalism is a difficult goal to reach. More weirdly they had to do this using communist language and ideology.
At the end the genocide was just bad policy, make people suffer and be productive. Punish and reform, while treating them like pieces in a board and being blind to the reality of its inefficiency. Like "The Great Leap Foward/Cultural Revolution in China" or Russia
The leadership was corrupt did not hold unto their ideals, allowed special privileges. Wasted productivity of individuals on useless tasks.
Then the revolution turned on itself like revolutions do. Engaged in paranoia, everyone became a suspect. Arrests and torture was common and heads started to roll.
The increasing of tension with Vietnam (becoming a proxy war betaeen Russia and China) and Thailand on border disputes did not help in bringing a sense of calm on the leadership.
Vietnam eventually invasion, the execution of every competent commander to put up a defence with the Cambodian army. Left the country in chaos, to Vietnamese looting of everything including food aid. Pol refused to tell the people they were at war or they veen occupied.
To win back the support of the people to fight a guerrilla war, the idea of a communist party had to be abandoned and a coalition government formed. The war again became proxy for Chinese and US intrests (hurt Moscow by over extending their resources) rather than settle for peace
With the end of the cold war, Vietnam and Cambodia no longer had the resource to keep on fighting. (But peace was harder to negotiate despite low intensity fighting) Pol Pot in a weakened position (had cancer) never recovered to his original pre-war power.
His method of dealing with perceived betrayal by execution of his right hand man, Son Sen, fractured his army. His last General fearing for his life abandoned him. Pol escaped to Thailand and was put under house arrest where his movement, failing he died.
Cambodia today is not under any true democracy. The international community prefers the status quo and are exhausted to the question of Cambodia. End.
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