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Vietnam, 6/1/08
Overview:
Beginning in 1954, the United States began a two decade commitment to fighting communist forces in Vietnam. Over half a century later, Vietnam is a very different country with a rapidly growing economy and relatively friendly relations with the United States. Join us as we take a look back at the evolution of Vietnam today. We will cover the history as well as Vietnam's current and evolving role in the region.
Key Lecture Points:
• Beginning in 1954, the United States began a two decade commitment to fighting communist forces in Vietnam. An integral part of Cold War strategy, the Vietnam War was intended to keep the Asian “dominoes” from falling to communism. As the war changed from a limited war to a protracted conflict (around the time of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), by 1968 some 500,000 US soldiers would be committed to the conflict and the American public would become increasingly uneasy and angry. The implementation of the draft in 1969, as well as the shooting of war protestors at Kent State University in 1970, were among the events that inflamed the American public. The Vietnam War spanned 4 presidencies (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon), 2 decades, and resulted in the loss of 58,000 American lives. Ultimately in 1975, two years after all US troops were sent home, South Vietnam fell to the Communist government of the North.
• From the Vietnamese perspective, the American War (as they call it) was the last in a long line of conflicts against foreign powers. Having fought off the Chinese for centuries and France for 100 years (1858-1954), the war with the US was the final war for Vietnamese independence. A strong spirit of resistance, grown in the Vietnamese population through years of domination by outsiders, enabled North Vietnamese Communists to out-last the US in the protracted conflict. Further, a history of civil war also presaged the 20th century division between North and South, a division which resulted in the loss of millions of Vietnamese lives between the 1950s-1970s.
• Today, US-Vietnamese relations are relatively friendly, with trade and political ties strengthening. In 2000, US President Clinton became the first American head of state to visit the country since the end of the war. The US is the largest investor in Vietnam and Vietnam’s largest trading partner.
• Much like China, Vietnam has, since the mid-1980s, embarked upon a program of economic reform along capitalist lines. Growing at between 8-9% per annum, Vietnamese GDP has been augmented via export promotion, freer trade and foreign direct investment.
• Although liberal economic reforms are increasingly forthcoming, Vietnam remains a one-party communist state, where political freedoms are generally illusory.
Exploration Questions:
• To what extent do you think that relations between two countries, that were previously enemies, can be normalized?
• In what ways were the experiences of US Vietnam veterans similar to the experiences of US veterans in other wars? In what way were they different?
Reflective Questions:
• Do you remember when the first draft lottery was held on Dec. 1, 1970?
• Do you know anyone who fought in Vietnam?
More to Explore:
• On the Vietnam War: www.pbs.org
• General Background on Vietnam: www.state.gov
Books For Further Reading:
• Gardner, Lloyd C. and Young, Marilyn B. (eds.). Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam: Or, How Not to Learn from the Past. New Press, 2008 (forthcoming). 336 pages. This is a collection of essays written by Vietnam historians and contemporary US foreign policy experts that seeks to draw parallels between the Vietnam War and the current conflict in Iraq. The controversial book takes the general position that military strategists and policymakers today are not heeding the lessons taught in past eras, in spite of their worries about the “Vietnam syndrome”. Click here to order.
• Ninh, Bao (with Phan T. Hao, translator). The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam. Riverhead Books, 1996. 240 pages. This novel is the first published about the Vietnam War from the perspective of the North Vietnamese. Critics have hailed it as the best book to come out of the Vietnam War, and perhaps one of the greatest war novels of the 20th century. Click here to order.
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