War in Vietnam - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The American government perceived the French defeat as a defeat of its economic ideology (Oberdorfer 2001, p. 45). The North Vietnamese rebels adhered to communism. Their win in this conflict showed that this region would assume communism. This occurred at the height of the cold war in which the Soviet Union and America were seeking to propagate their economic models. America’s refusal to admit the defeat of France in this conflict aggravated the conflict. The strategy relating to the conflict changed significantly with changes in regimes. The write-up will examine the factors, which resulted in the involvement of America in this conflict. This conflict generated massive controversy in the America owing to fatalities. This conflict lasted over two decades. This reveals that America was not ready to lose since it would signify weakness in its ability to dominate the globe politically. American was embroiled in this conflict due to several reasons. The reason varied from economic to political reasons. However, they all culminated in the aggravation of the conflict (Kissinger 2003, p. 32). Reasons from America’s involvement in the conflict At the time of the conflict, the Soviet Union and America were locked in a cold war. The cold war entailed each nation sabotaging its enemy indirectly. The cold war erupted as the two dominant nations in the globe embarked on a campaign to increase adoption of their economic models. The American government was popularising capitalism while the Soviet Union sought to popularize communism. The economic model, which would prevail, would make its source nation an economic powerhouse. The Northern Vietnamese were supported by a communism nation (Lawrence 2008, p. 124). Therefore, American viewed this as the spread of communism. The defeat of French forces in this nation meant that Vietnam would become a communist nation. Additionally, it meant that the capitalist world represented by France had failed. America viewed it as its responsibility to ensure that the rebels do not prevail. The need to ensure that Vietnam does not become a communist nation resulted in this conflict since the French had already negotiated a pact that would ensure peace in the nation. However, the Americans felt that conceding defeat meant that capitalism had lost. Subsequently, communism would become the dominant economic model. The Soviet Union had prevailed in this region of the Asia, which was dominantly communism. Vietnam was in a strategic position in relation to the communist world. Therefore, the loss of this nation to communism policies would weaken America’s quest to spread its economic model to this part of the globe. This conflict ensured that America was able to contain the spread of communism to this part of the Vietnam (Brigham 2012). During this time, the Soviet Union and America were the world dominant nations. Each nation sought to surpass the other by becoming the dominant nation both politically and economically. These nations could not fight directly. Therefore, they opted for sabotaging tactics. These tactics entailed America supporting Soviet Union’s foes. Similarly, the Soviet Union would support America’s foes. This resulted in an ongoing conflict where the two nations did not take direct military action against each other. The Vietnamese conflict provided the perfect situation for the two nations to implement their tactics (Burgan 2006, p. 238). The Northern Vie ...Download file to see next pagesRead More