Bad Lieutenants is a riveting account of how the Khmer Rouge remained a force to be reckoned with even after the fall of Democratic Kampuchea—and of the men behind the movement's strange durability.

In 1979, the Vietnamese army seized Phnom Penh, toppling Pol Pot's notoriously brutal regime. Yet the Khmer Rouge did not disintegrate. Instead, the movement continued to rule over swathes of Cambodia for almost another two decades even as it failed to become a legitimate governing organization.

Andrew Mertha argues that the Khmer Rouge's successes and failures were both driven by a refusal to dilute its revolutionary vision. Rather than take the moderate tack required for viable governance, it pivoted between only two political strategies: united front and class struggle. Through the stories of three key leaders—Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Ta Mok—Mertha tracks the movement's shifting from one strategy to the other until its dissolution in the 1990s.

Vividly written and deeply researched, Bad Lieutenants reveals the powerful grip political ideology can have over the survival of insurgent movements.

Buy a copy of Bad Lieutenants from our store​.

By registering for this program, you agree to and understand that you may be photographed, recorded/videotaped and/or interviewed during the program, for purposes relating to this program, promotional purposes, and/or for other work of Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK), including for archival purposes. By registering, you are granting ASHK a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and unrestricted right to use, reproduce, publish and/or display your image (film or photographs) and/or voice (video recording, sound clip or other formats), in any manner or media (including in websites, in newspapers, on social media platforms, in a report or on the television and radio), and the right to sub-license such rights, at ASHK's discretion, to other global centers of Asia Society and other partner organizations/vendors with which ASHK works. If you wish to access your image/sound clip and/or no longer want ASHK and/or our partner organizations/vendors to use your image/ sound clip, please email us at programhk@asiasociety.org.hk. It is the responsibility of the program participant to communicate to our staff at the venue his/her preference. However, we cannot remove content that has already been published. By registering, you agree that published communications can continue in circulation and content may be stored by us and by our photographer in historical archives to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations. 

通過登記參加此活動，你已同意並理解你可能在活動期間被拍攝照片、錄影及/或採訪，並用作與活動相關、宣傳及／或香港亞洲協會中心其他工作的用途(包括作存檔用途)。 通過登記參加此活動，你同意永久授權予香港亞洲協會中心非專屬、免版稅、無限制，以及以任何方式或媒介(包括網站、報章、社交媒體、出版物、電視和 電台等)，使用、複製、發佈及/或展出你的影像（錄像／照片）及／或聲音（影片攝錄、錄音聲帶或其他形式），並同意香港亞洲協會中心可根據其決定授權其他亞洲協會中心以及亞洲協會中心的夥伴團體／合作單位使用。如果你希望查閱你的影像／聲音檔，及／或不希望香港亞洲協會中心及／或我們的夥伴團體／合作單位使用你的影像／聲音檔，請電郵至 programhk@asiasociety.org.hk 與我們聯絡。活動參加者有責任向我們在場的工作人員提出其意願。不過，內容一旦發布便不可移除。通過登記參加此活動，你同意已發表的內容可以繼續流傳，而收集到的材料在適用的法律及法規容許的情況下可能會一直存檔於香港亞洲協會中心以及香港亞洲協會中心攝影師的資料庫。