Essay about United States Policy toward Southeast Asia

In September 1945 Ho Chin Minh declared his country independence (Vietnam).Ho determination to make his country free brought him to the realization that, in other to achieve that, the Vietnamese would have to fight another war against the French colonialist. After several years of fighting the French were won out and sued for peace with the Vietnamese with a suitably ceremony on October 9 1945.This brought the intervention of the American, who wanted Vietnamese to be permanently divided which was temporally divided at the time (pp 150-151). As the Americans campaigned against communism, it has being portrayed to many that it is the right of the Americans to intervene in Vietnamese as world power. But the decision made by Johnson’s presidency was bias. The increase of American military troops in south Vietnam provoked and intensified the response from the north which eventually broke out to a war were so many lives were lost. The war ended with a great

that (arguably) flowed from the U.S. stand in Southeast Asia: the failure of the attempted communist

“In 1898 the Spanish-American War ended Spanish control of the Philippines, but U.S. military forces continued to fight against Filipino rebels seeking full independence. In response, a group of famous Americans, including Carl Schurz, Mark Twain, and journalist E.L. Godkin, organized the Anti-Imperialist League to advocate an end to U.S. involvement in that country. The League’s opposition was based on its interpretation of U.S. history” (Carl Schurz, Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League 1899). This war led to the nation administering the burden of babysitting the Filipinos, which caused debates between imperialist and anti-imperialists over whether or not we had the right to take such a role and govern these people without their approval. “When next I realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps, I confess I did not know what to do with them” (William McKinley, “Decision on the Philippines” 1900). Clashes between the Philippines and Americans began to emerge around the twentieth-century due to the Filipino’s misconstrued hopes that they would be granted independence, leading to yet another avoidable war for then U.S.: the Philippine-American War. Therefore, in regards to the nation’s want for expansion as well as the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars of the twentieth-century, the United States should have taken a more laissez-faire role to have avoided unnecessary

Now that Communist ruled China and both the Korean War and the First Indochina War had ended in military and political stalemates, American foreign policy-makers became extremely paranoid about Communist expansion in Asia. Thinking in geopolitical terms, they envisioned countries as dominos; if one domino fell, it would set in motion the collapse of the ones lined up next to it. They supported the staunchly anti-Communist and devoutly Catholic Diem because they thought he could be a counterweight to Ho Chi Minh. (46)

The Ugly American showed the reasons why American diplomacy was failing in Southeast Asia in the 1950's and the reasons why communism was succeeding. . Its lessons seem startlingly urgent today in light of the turmoil in Central America and in the Middle East. Whether the foreign policy errors this book dramatizes have been corrected is an important question, and one that can be usefully debated in the classroom.

During President Franklin Roosevelt’s time in office, it has become apparent that he held great hostility towards the French colonialism in Southeast Asia, even declaring to his secretary “The case of Indochina is perfectly clear, France has milked it for one hundred years, the people of Indochina are entitled to something better than that.” A trusteeship is what President Roosevelt had in mind, this scheme would see Indochina taken away from France and be placed under an international directorate, that would prepare it for eventual independence. After President Roosevelt death on the 12th of April 1945, the presidential role was succeeded by Harry Truman who did not shared Roosevelt’s concern over colonialism and adopted a policy even more favourable to France. This policy by President Truman only brought limited results, the French hopes of victory that was restored by the prospect of America’s assistance was short lived.

The United States foreign policy had embraced the idea that the fall of Indochina would result in other countries falling to communism in Southeast Asia (“The Domino Theory” pg.2). The United States believed that most of the Asian countries had weak governments. Although these countries were largely populated, the citizens were depressed, starving, and desperate. In addition, their weak

Thirty-eight years have passed and the Vietnam War is still a controversial topic. While some Americans believe that Indochina was of no strategic value to the United States, others argue that civilian leaders have undermined the war effort. My paper will help analyze the different viewpoints for U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the overall assessment of each. Almost all the sources utilized came to the consensus that the chief purpose for U.S. intervention was to stop Communism from spreading. Nevertheless, while some believed that the developed country had reason to fear the “Iron Curtain,” which fell upon Asia in 1954 with the armistice in Korea and the Geneva Accords, others did not see this as an act of upholding freedom and democracy.

Lawrence describes Vietnam as “a vital front in the global confrontation between democratic capitalism and international communism” (28). At this point, Lawrence portrays the tension between the Chinese, Soviets and Americans. As the Chinese civil was occurring towards the end of the 1940’s, American leaders were working tirelessly to find anti-communist allies. Americans were deeply concerned about communist influence and began to fund France as it attempted to reconquer Indochina. To be exact, 3 billion dollars was spent by the United States in order to help maintain its containment policy.

Indochina was one of the many countries that became pivotal after WW2. The country, which would become Vietnam, was a vital source of materials and minerals that greatly benefitted the U.S.. After the war ended, the country became independent from France and began to veer towards the direction of communism, which the U.S. greatly feared. President Eisenhower discussed in a 1954 interview that “with respect to more people passing under this domination, Asia, after all, has already lost some 450 million of its people to the communist dictatorship, and we simply can’t afford greater losses” (Domino Theory, 83). The Geneva Accords were intended to outline the ceasefire of the tensions in Vietnam between north and south, and keep it where communism would not take over. However, this did not work out, as Vietnam did not accept the agreement and refused it. The U.S. stayed back and watched carefully, while aiming to not try and get involved, but still have things go it’s way.

In contemporary, international society the United States is at the forefront of global affairs. Moreover, scholars have argued that after the First World War, American hegemony led a path for a liberalized world, where cooperation and harmonious institutions unit the world. However, the United States historically has never been this type of hegemonic leader. Rather from their conception as a nation they had a foreign policy which isolated them from foreign affairs of the world, from President Washington to President Glover no president had initiated a war that was not on American soil or for their state 's survival. Thus, after a century of isolationism at the forefront of American foreign policy, what event forced the realization of US dominance in international society? Due to the American victory in the Spanish-American War, the previous principles of isolationism as the foreign policy of the United States was undermined, thus forcing the US to acknowledge their new political status in the global power of states and their cemented hegemonic leadership of the Western hemisphere. Therefore it is the purpose of this essay to analysis and examine the Spanish-American War, President Mckinley’s foreign policy, the American public reaction, the aftermath and the European perception of America 's rise in international society. Moreover, this essay will attempt to analysis the position of America at war and the transition in international status that came as the result.

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A comprehensive analysis of the United States' involvement in Indonesia during the Vietnam War is a virtual case study in lessons learned and mistakes not to make during martial encounters. These errors and the lessons they provided spanned a number of different areas, and include noticeable blunders in social and cultural contexts, presidential leadership, and in diplomatic negotiations.

The culmination of World War II saw many changes for nation building not only in the spheres of Europe and East Asia, but also in regions of the world infected by imperialism such as Southeast Asia. During this time many imperialist powers lost their footholds in Southeast Asia due to an inability to project their dominance as they had before, such as in the case of the Dutch in Indonesia and the French throughout Indochina. Nationalist movements would unfold in one manner or another during this time and by the mid 1950’s most former European colonies throughout the region had won their independence. Two such former colonies that I will be looking at will be the

After the Spanish-American war a series of opportunities brought a lot of regional players and foreign powers to the Philippines, the United States took the position that Spain once had. The Unites States saw the Philippines islands as a strategic place that would open commerce and trade to the far east Asia from the beginning and their stance did not change after their surrender. After World War II (WWII) most countries in Southeast Asia became independent. Most countries in the region share a business and trade relationship which is in favor of their individual and collective growth, while some others share problems with migration, limited resources and political vitality. For some time, the United States have been a key influencer of stability providing military presence and advising countries throughout southeast Asia to maintain territorial and economic integrity. After the independence of a few countries in Indochina, countries with India and China influences located in the same continental area, the Vietnam War began with the communist North Vietnam attempt to conquer the south. By the end of the war in 1975 neighbor countries of Laos and Cambodia were also governed by communists. During this era the Southeast was struggling for trade