U.S. containment policy and the conflict in Indochina

the long version

Tightly argued, balanced, and persuasive, this is a detailed analysis of the relationship between the U.S. doctrine of containment of communism and U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam. It addresses five major issues: why and how did the United States first become involved in the Indochina conflict; what strategy did the United States initially adopt to pursue its objectives there; how did Communist leaders attempt to counter U.S. moves and with what success; what factors led the United States eventually to decide to introduce combat troops into South Vietnam; and what does the U.S. experience in Vietnam have to say about the overall strategy of containment and the more general issue of when and in what conditions the U.S. should intervene in civil disturbances where its security interests are not directly engaged.