American desire to modernise third world countries fuelled the Vietnam war - Research Paper Example

HOW THE AMERICAN DESIRE TO MODERNISE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES FUELLED THE VIETNAM WAR Affiliation: Introduction The US used the theory of modernization and pacification in its quest to modernize third world countries such as the Vietnam. The relationship between modernization and pacification is critical because both attributes contribute to national development and stability. Pacification focuses on instilling physical and institutional security during combat. Modernization refers to a period of relative peace and continued national development. The US desired to achieve pacification and modernization in third world countries. Therefore, it united with other superpowers and international agencies such as the United Nations to form policies that revolutionize lives in third world countries. However, these policies had aspects of colonization and imperialism that third world countries disagreed with. Therefore third world countries such as Vietnam rebelled because it needed more freedom and political independence (Darby 2007). Mark Berger, in his article: “Decolonisation, modernization and nation building” explains that the US fused pacification and modernization theory in its search for the appropriate combination of civil and security reforms in the hamlets of Vietnam. The US sought a coherent plan to jumpstart the economic and social development in Vietnam. The military was perceived to play a major role in modernization and pacification. This was because the US believed that security was a precondition for growth and sustained development (Escobar 2005). As such, the US built and strengthened the Vietnamese army over the period of modernization and economic intervention. The army was trained in US military bases on how to keep peace and fight insecurities in all areas of the country. The US combined efforts with the United Nations Security Council in strengthening the army. This resulted in capable armed forces that kept the country secure. With time, the Vietnamese army became powerful and needed to gain autonomy from the US policies and intervention. The army manufactured its own military weapons and was able to fund its own programs. This made it easy to wage the Vietnam War and resist US imperialism. The article further argues that modernization theory gained policy and academic prominence in Vietnam. It gave policymakers a dynamic theory to accelerate growth, based on a hierarchy of measurable stages that could be applied across a broad spectrum of Vietnam economic sectors. The theory extrapolated the western myth of teleological development onto postcolonial nations and gauge how quickly how these nations can achieve urbanization and economic and social development. Using this theory, the US managed to make sound economic recovery policies aimed at jumpstarting economic development (George 2004). The policies forced on major sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, that were promising to rejuvenate the economy. The Vietnamese, who were living in abject poverty took the chance offered by the economic stimulating policies to strengthen their weak economic links. The Vietnamese work very hard and have sharp business minds. Within no time, the economy was highly stimulated and increasingly growing. The people felt highly empowered and needed their freedom. They had enough resources to fund their own political aspirations and thereby, it was easy to wage the Vietnam War. The article: “Redirecting the revolution? The USA and the failure of nation building in South Vietnam”; US used modernization theory held that rational societies are ideal, fundamentally alike and perpetually dynamic. The theory advocated for development in Vietnam. However, moral certitude concealed the dark side of the theory in that development was conceived with so much abstraction. The moral certitude viewed development to include human sufferings as necessary and avoidable price of growth. Despite achieving development, many third world countries paid a high price that included dehumanization and oppression. For example, some of the developmental policies hindered the subjects from acting without consulting the policy makers, who were mainly foreigners. The development policies despite having genuine and pure intentions to modernise third world countries had a lot of colonisation aspects (James 2009). These aspects made Vietnam and other third world countries feel restrained and dependent on foreign power and rule in their own countries. In addition, continuous development empowered the people and opened their mind. They felt ore able to handle their own issues without interventions. The quest for freedom and independence to pursue developmental goals and objectives triggered the waging of the Vietnam War. The article: “Locating the global south in the theorization of the cold war”, the US advocated for technological development and advancement as a way of achieving development and economic stability. Technology was imported to the third world countries to assist in economic stimulation, military revival and urbanization. The transport in Vietnam was modernized to allow for movement of people and goods. Technology was used in key sectors of the economy such as the agriculture and manufacturing. Education was also given priority to increase literacy levels to aid in developing further technological innovations (Bradley 2000). Technological innovations revolutionized Vietnam. It boosted the economy, urbanization, aids to trade such as telecommunication and transport and security. Perhaps, the major contribution of technology was in revolutionizing the military operations. Using new technology, the Vietnam armed forces manufactured crude weapons such as bombs and grenades among others. These weapons were used to wage the Vietnam War because they gave the country a great advantage against its enemies who used crude weapons. According to the article: “The illusion of progress and the crisis of modernization in South Vietnam” the US efforts to modernize third world countries fostered a spirit of social cohesion among third world countries. The policies and other interventions advocated by the US needed cooperation from the third world countries to succeed. Therefore, the US fostered a spirit of collaboration and cooperation in dealing with national problems facing the people. This cohesion ensured that people worked together to eliminate social problems and make their society a better place to live in. In the same spirit, the Vietnamese were united against any external force that threatened their peace, independence and stability (Pupavac 2005). The people would unite together against their common enemy, an attribute that was highly desired to gain victory in all battles. Therefore, the social cohesion advocated by the US in their desire to modernise third world countries, brought unity and political good will that increased Vietnamese confidence in winning the Vietnam war, and thus the desire to participate in warship. The article explains that the colonial systems of trade, communication, transport and commerce shocked the people out of their complacency and fatalities. The systems created tremendous instability because older social values diminished in favour of modern organization and aspirations. Revolutionaries preyed on people’s anxieties and frustrations that were created by the loss of familiar worlds. However, this was a critical window in time that provided opportunity for the US to effectively accelerate a natural transition to a more liberal and modern capital state. In US’s vision of nation building, the Vietnamese were seen as malleable and their culture and history was dismissed as an irrelevant past (Wiegersma 2008). These perceptions affected some people negatively, especially the elder generations that were attached to their cultures. The dismissal of their culture and the rapid developments that disregarded cultural practices and people’s ways of life were seen as a threat to the Vietnamese identity. The fear of loss of identity and cultural ties caused aggression that waged the Vietnam War. The article: “Getting savages to fight barbarians” explain that the US went to great extent to envision nation building in Vietnam. The rationale behind US efforts was that once the development momentum set in, every sector of the economy would pick up and bring development and modernization. In doing so, the US ignored what the Vietnam consider to be important for national development. For example, the Vietnamese culture was an integral part of development. Yet the US dismissed this as an irrelevant past. In addition, the radical development and modernisation efforts and policies shocked the people (James 2009). While the US was very focused on modernizing the country, it failed to prepare the people for the radical changes that accompanied development policies. The people therefore felt threatened and out of control of their own country. They were unable to control decisions that directly affected their lives and brought new radical concepts. Many people rebelled and became aggressive in a bid to seek more representation and maintain a balance in their world that was changing fast and out of their control. The article further argues that the US failure to include the Vietnamese nationals in making economic policies contributed to a great extent in the Vietnam War. The US advocated for a capitalist economy that would stimulate economic growth. However, there are people who supported the communist economy as the ideal platform for economic development .The differences in the type of economy to adopt led to great disagreements that left people resentful of modernization efforts. This led to divisions of the country into two groups; one that advocated for communism and the other one advocated for capitalism (George 2004). The two sides fell into great disagreements that later resulted to violence as the two sides fought to have their ideal economy type adopted. The cold war that resulted had devastating effects to the people and the economy that slackened. Samuel Huntington in his article: “The bases of accommodation” says that the desire to modernize the third world counties to a great extent denied the countries the political freedom and independence. The US intervention policies aimed at modernizing these countries excluded political leaders, who were never consulted and were forced to implement the policies. These policies were made by international communities that had no close contacts with locals like the politicians had. It was therefore impossible for them to implement foreign policies and explain to the people hoe the policies were made (Escobar 2005). For example, the move to adopt capitalism was made without consultation of local leaders. In so doing, the US failed to predict the resistance t from the locals who preferred communism. In this case, failure to consult local leaders was seen as a way of undermining their authority and had the negative result of dividing the country and waging the Vietnam War. Conclusion The US desire to modernise third world countries played a major role in waging the Vietnam War. The modernisation aimed to bring economic and social development through the use of modernization theory and pacification. Modernization theory brought rapid changes that shocked the people out of their complacency. Modernization disregarded the people’s culture and history as irrelevant factors, resulting in resentment from conservative societal members. The pacification efforts led to the strengthening of the Vietnam army, thereby giving it more power to combat and confidence to wage the Vietnam War (Darby 2007). The move to exclude local leaders from policy making process resulted in resentment and resistance to economic policies such as the move to adopt capitalism. Therefore, the desire to modernise third world countries contributed majorly in waging the Vietnam War by causing divisions as to the type of economy to use, exclusion of local leaders, disregard of the Vietnamese culture and imperialism that hindered independence. References Darby, P., 2007. ‘Three Faces of Imperialism: British and American Approaches to Asia and Africa 1870 –1970’. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. Escobar, A., 2005. ‘Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World’. Princeton University Press, New Jersey George McT Kahin, 2004. ‘Intervention: How America Became Involved in Vietnam, New York’: Alfred A Knopf, p 103 James P Harrison. 2009. ‘The Endless War: Vietnams Struggle for Independence, New York’: Columbia University Press, pp 183-184. 7 MP Bradley. 2000. ‘Imagining Vietnam and America: The Making of Postcolonial Vietnam, 1919-1950, Chapel Hill, NC’: University of North Carolina Press, p 47. 4 Nancy Wiegersma, 2008. ‘Vietnam: Peasant Land, Peasant Revolution, New York’: St Martins pp 116, 180- 183, 202-203. 8 Pupavac, V., 2005. ‘Human Security and the Rise of Global Therapeutic Governance’. Conflict, Security & Development 5(2) Read More