Domino Theory Vietnam War

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The Vietnam war was a conflict that lasted from 1954 until 1975 with differing degrees of US involvement ranging from discrete financial measures, used during the French occupation of Indochina which ended following the Battle at Dien Bien Phu and the resulting Geneva Conference in 1954, to the direct use of military force. In this inquiry, I will investigate the significance of the ‘domino theory’ as a reason for US involvement.There were a range of concepts as to why the U.S. got involved in the conflict in Vietnam ranging from credibility, to containing communism. The term ‘significance’ denotes being sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention. In essence the domino theory contends that if one country in a region ‘falls’…show more content…
Perhaps this was a way to receive support by focusing instead on the notions of national security and the defence of ‘freedom’ therefore any resistance from the public for example would be defeated and replaced with a renewed U.S. military and economic intervention abroad. America depended on the importation of raw materials such as “natural rubber and tin, and a producer of petroleum and any other strategically important commodities.”(Gabriel Kolko) and thus if they turned communist which might be emulated by surrounding countries like Thailand. This would lead to a large, resource-rich region of potential client states being ‘lost’ and America’s quest for open markets and access to resources would be impeded and thus economic doors closed and aligned with communism. Just like Kolko mentioned, “If a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, then that link has to be protected even though its very fragility might make undertaking more difficult. This is clearly mentioning that the economic objectives of the U.S. was the main reason for the involvement in the conflict in Vietnam because it needs ‘to be protected’ because of its ‘fragility’ in terms of stability which undermines the significance of the ‘domino
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