Vietnam

Carolyn Woods Eisenberg on Nixon's War Deceptions

by James Thornton Harris

A new history of Nixon and Kissinger's Vietnam policy shows a president driven by the abstract goal of credibility instead of concrete steps to conclude the conflict, at the cost of tens of thousands of American and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese lives. 

The Nixon Library's Vietnam Exhibition Obscures the Truth about the War's End

by Brian Robertson

The exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords chooses its sources selectively to present the negotiations as the product of Nixon's grand strategy, ignoring the role of domestic political machination. 

No Golden Anniversary for the Paris Peace Accords

by Arnold R. Isaacs

While the West observes January 27 as the anniversary of the agreement, it was already January 28 in Vietnam when the accords took effect, a telling symbol of the disjunction between American and Vietnamese views of the conflict and its stakes that contributed to their tragic failure. 

50 Years After the Paris Accords: How the US Lost, then Won, in Vietnam

by Robert Buzzanco

As Vietnam becomes increasingly integrated into global capitalism, the temptation to identify a long-term victory for American interests in southeast Asia should be tempered by awareness of the massive human cost paid by the Vietnamese. 

"Cut His Head Off if Necessary"—The Flimsy, Politically-Driven "Peace" Nixon Made in Vietnam

by James D. Robenalt

Months after inflicting a brutal bombing campaign on North Vietnam to push them to the negotiating table in Paris, Richard Nixon pressed the South to accept a deal that doomed their survival, in order to claim the mantle of peacemaker for himself. 

The Chicano Moratorium in East LA and Ventura County

by Frank P. Barajas

Chicano Moratorium commemorations continue today in communities in and out of East Los Angeles as they mark a history that centers on the experience of ethnic Mexican and Latinx peoples in the US to inspire and reinspire the young and old, to continue their struggle to realize the ideal of justice for all.

Abandoning Afghans From the Start

by Christian G. Appy

The Washington Post's Afganistan Papers present an opportunity to avoid the mistake of blaming military defeat on bad judgment and focus on the inherent problem of America's imperial ambitions, says historian Christian Appy.

Saigon Didn't End U.S. "Credibility." Neither Will Kabul

by Mark Atwood Lawrence

Did the United States suffer any serious geopolitical setbacks as a result of Vietnam? The answer is neither simple nor straightforward.

I Can’t Forget the Lessons of Vietnam. Neither Should You

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

For Afghan civilians, the war hasn't ended, and won't end for many years. The stories of Vietnamese refugees should inform American policy to aid Afghans seeking safety.

History Suggests Biden Should Ditch His Yes-Men

"Part of the problem with the Afghanistan decision-making process was that the president didn’t appear to be hearing dissent from his political aides."

The Media's Failure on Agent Orange

by Ron Steinman

The media seldom covers the ongoing harm caused by Agent Orange because little of the story is "news." This is a failure of duty to inform the public about the callous use of the defoliant that may allow similar wartime ecological catastrophes in the future. 

In Vietnam, the Pentagon Papers Are History Written by the Defeated

by Lien-Hang Nguyen

A Vietnamese historian explains how the Pentagon Papers have become a foundation of domestic histories of war (both before and during US involvement) even as the Vietnamese government has declined to release its own official histories of the conflict. 

“The Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the World”

by Liz Theoharis

Martin Luther King's 1967 Riverside Church address pointed out that the cause nonviolent civil rights struggle required him to challenge the US government to end militarism. Today, the pandemic shows that an ethos of nonviolence must include an active approach to end suffering through global cooperation. 

A Personal and Family History of Encountering Prejudice and Intolerance

by Ron Steinman

The author experienced antisemitic prejudice as a college student, but learned more about the pervasiveness of prejudice living in Asia as the husband of a Vietnamese woman during a time of anti-American sentiment, and then when living in suburban America as part of a mixed-race family. While it's necessary to understand the historical roots of racial bigotry, it's also always personal. 

I Don’t Want My Role Models Erased

by Elizabeth Becker

The work of women journalists covering the war in Vietnam has been obscured in remembrance of the war and its place in American history and culture. The author seeks to recover the stories of Frances FitzGerald, Kate Webb and Catherine Leroy.

The Victims of Agent Orange the U.S. Has Never Acknowledged

"The use of the herbicide in the neutral nation of Laos by the United States — secretly, illegally and in large amounts — remains one of the last untold stories of the American war in Southeast Asia."

What China's Last Major War Tells Us About How it Will Fight the Next One

An examination of the roots of war between Vietnam and China, which may suggest that Beijing is willing to initiate military action in the future. China's poor military performance in this conflict led to reform and modernization of the People's Liberation Army. 

King’s Final Book: Both Political Roadmap and Passionate Sermon

by Fred Zilian

As Black History Month unfolds amid an atmosphere of crisis and division like that which prevailed in 1968, it's worth revisiting Martin Luther King's publication that year of "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community" – a call for reordering national priorities toward justice through politics and for renewed spiritual and ethical dedication to shared humanity.

What Should Drive Biden’s Foreign Policy?

Columnist and Humphrey biographer James Traub says the former Senator and VP's interventionist liberalism in foreign policy is a model for Joe Biden's administration to reestablish American preeminence in world affairs. 

One of the Chicago 7 Reflects on Dissident Politics Then and Now

by Lee Weiner

A veteran of dissident politics in the 1960s warns that while today's broad coalition of activists for a more just and democratic America are on the right track, they must learn from the mistakes of an older generation and find ways to keep united despite difference.