Big Picture

• In what ways did Vietnam find itself caught in the middle of larger global affairs?
  • Following World War I?
  • Following World War II?
• How did leaders like Ho Chi Minh try to advance Vietnam's nationalist ambitions with these contexts?
  • Was this a wise strategy?
  • What does this reveal about the challenges facing small countries within the 20th century?
• In what sense did the United States find itself "sacrificing democracy for democracy?"
  • What compelled American policymakers to make this choice?
    • Evaluate this decision from a realistic or pragmatic point of view.
    • Evaluate this decision from an ideological point of view.
• What was the difference between the National Liberation Front and North Vietnam?
• What was the connection between the two?
• What errors did the United States make in assessing the character and connections of the NLF?
  • How did broader Cold War anxieties shape American assessments of the Vietnamese conditions?
  • What alternative policies might have been pursued had the US viewed the Vietnamese conflict as a purely local conflict?