Beyond the New Look VIETNAM AND THE COLD WAR IN THE THIRD WORLD A Change in Quiz Format uCHANGES IN COUNTING FOR GRADES u 3 Quizzes—10% u Highest grade – 15% u Second highest grade- 10% u Lowest Grade--- 5% FIVE THINGS TO UNDERSTAND: 1.THE MOVE IN US STRATEGIC THINKING FROM MASSIVE RETALIATION TO FLEXIBLE RESPONSE: WHY? WITH WHAT CONSEQUENCES 2.THE IMPORTANCE OF DECOLONIZATION (AND STRATEGIES) 3.THE ESSENTIAL LIE BEHIND THE GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION 4.THE MOTIVATIONS OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON: DOMESTIC POLITICS AND CREDIBILITY 5.THE IMPACT OF VIETNAM ON US SOCIETY REVIEW: Where are we after the Cuban Missile Crisis? uThe United States : u The Truman Doctrine makes containment a global struggle against communism u The “loss” of China, the Soviet atomic bomb and genuine spies bring about u red scare and McCarthyism u Eisenhower uses US superiority to create strategy of retaliation uThe Soviet Union: u After Stalin’s death, must deal with threat of nuclear war u Khrushchev: Soviet nuclear weapons deter imperialists, create stalement u Stalemate allows Soviet Union to fight imperialists with economic, political means u Looks for allies among nationalist movements in decolonized world uThe Cuban Missile Crisis: u Both sides acknowledge danger u Move to stable nuclear balance u 1. Strategic Thinking in the United States: The Issue of Extended Deterrence uSoviet intercontinental capability raises question about Eisenhower u Massive Retaliation strategy u The question: Will the United States “trade Washington for Frankfurt?” u One Answer: Nuclearize NATO, and esp. Germany and France u Another Answer: A conventional alternative u u Kennedy’s Response: Flexible Response Kennedy’s Answer: Flexible Response Demonstrate credibility by being able to respond at every level Conventional defense against conventional attack Limited nuclear response to limited nuclear attack All the way up the “escalation ladder” Issues: Unlike Massive Retaliation, have to respond everywhere Very Expensive—Largest peacetime defense buildup until Reagan Aimed both at Europe, and at Third World 2. Decolonization between 1946 and 1975 Cold War in the Global South: The Birth of the “Third World” u1945-1955: Nationalism in Middle East and South India u Eisenhower builds alliances: u SEATO (Thailand, Philippines, Britain, France, u Australia, New Zealand) u CENTO (Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, UK) u The Non-Aligned Movement u India(Nehru), Egypt (Nasser), Indonesia (Suharto), u Yugoslavia (Tito) u1955-1965: Rapid Decolonization of Africa The Cold War Competition uOpportunities and Threats to the Superpowers u Instability in the wake of decolonization means can be influenced u Some mineral wealth, but relatively little strategic value u Demonstration of ideological legitimacy, strength u USSR: particularly with regard to competition with China u United States: Suggests people want to be “free” u The Domino Theory u If Vietnam goes, then Thailand, then Burma, u then may even Phillipines or India u Domestic costs Response to National Liberation Movements uSoviet Union u Khrushchev: national liberation will win if USSR can hold off u intervention u China attacks Khrushchev, says he sacrifices revolution to peaceful coexistence u Khrushchev replies in 1961 will support national liberation movements more United States under Kennedy: u National Liberation nationalist more than communist, but US must still show credibility: u otherwise other national liberation movements will grow u Domino Theory u Anti-insurgency fighting u JFK: "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place." Vietnam Before 1964: uFrench Colony uHo Chi Minh defeats French at Bien Dien Phu, 1954 uGeneva Conference: Divide Vietnam, hold nationwide elections in 1956 uSouth Vietnamese leader Diem calls off elections with support from US uEisenhower sends troops to train troops in South Vietnam u1959-1960: Diem becomes increasing unpopular, N. Vietnam send troops, supplies to South Vietnamese communists uKennedy increases “advisors" from 900 to 16,000 uThe US approves coup removing Diem in August 1963 uIncreased instability in South uKennedy Shot in November 1963 The Tonkin Gulf Resolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI8VGchVk7E uBackground: u Kennedy’s Successor, Vice President Lyndon Johnson u Domestic Politics, Not Foreign Policy u Ambitious Domestic Agenda u Relied on John F. Kennedy’s advisers for foreign policy u Robert MacNamara u Election in 1964 coming up u South Vietnam government clearly losing hold, as did Nationalist u China US Escalation in Vietnam, 1965 uSouth Vietnam threatens to fall, needs US troops uMarch 8, 1965: 3,500 ground troops uBy 1966: 386,000 ground troops uBy 1968: The Peak: 536, 100 ground troops uThe US continually says it is winning, based on body counts u1968: The Tet Offensive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPgWqgpgVRc uJohnson drops out u u The Reasons for Escalation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OaiR9xdyWg uA. Flexible Response: Have to show the flag, have to show credibility u Issue of Credibility uB. Domestic Politics: u“I knew that Harry Truman and Dean Acheson had lost their effectiveness from the day that the Communists took over in China…The loss of China played a large role in the rise of Joe McCarthy. And I knew that all of these problems, taken together, were chickenshit compared with what might happen if we lost Vietnam.” uC. Johnson continually assures people US is winning The Tet Offensive uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPgWqgpgVRc u The Impact of Vietnam: No More Consensus u“Make America Great Again”. Reference to US before Vietnam uThe Consensus Endangered: The Civil Rights Movement u The Baby Boom reaches adolescence u The draft and its impact uThe “Credibility Gap” u The Tet Offensive u The “Pentagon Papers” u The Elites Start Debating, and the Newscasters pick it up uChicago, 1968. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv0rI-5ycBU The Nixon Presidency uThe war cannot be won uHow to get out without damaging credibility uVietnamization: By 1972 only 69,000 uPeace Talks uTo strengthen bargaining position