10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Vietnam War
9. Although Communism Spread To Cambodia And Laos, The Vietnam War Did Partially Halt The "Domino Theory"... As It Stopped The ASEAN Countries Becoming Socialist
President Dwight D Eisenhower first put forward his "domino theory" in April 1954 and this would set the tone of the Cold War for the next thirty years - with Americans fearing that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism then the surrounding countries would follow, just as if one domino fell over it would knock all others down with it. The evidence in support of this theory is that South Vietnam fell under the influence of the Viet Cong, Laos to the Pathet Lao and Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge - all socialist movements. Interestingly though, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the spread of communism around south-east Asia was actually hastened by US involvement in the area - particularly by President Richard Nixon's bombing campaigns in Laos and Cambodia. But the Vietnam War was not a complete failure in halting the so-called "domino effect", if such a thing did exist. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - which included the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand - did not ever fall under Communist rule. In fact, the Indonesians pushed the Soviet Union out during 1966 due to US presence in Vietnam. Without American presence in south-east Asia, it is entirely feasible that the majority - if not all - of the region would have turned socialist.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
President Dwight D Eisenhower first put forward his "domino theory" in April 1954 and this would set the tone of the Cold War for the next thirty years - with Americans fearing that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism then the surrounding countries would follow, just as if one domino fell over it would knock all others down with it. The evidence in support of this theory is that South Vietnam fell under the influence of the Viet Cong, Laos to the Pathet Lao and Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge - all socialist movements. Interestingly though, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the spread of communism around south-east Asia was actually hastened by US involvement in the area - particularly by President Richard Nixon's bombing campaigns in Laos and Cambodia. But the Vietnam War was not a complete failure in halting the so-called "domino effect", if such a thing did exist. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - which included the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand - did not ever fall under Communist rule. In fact, the Indonesians pushed the Soviet Union out during 1966 due to US presence in Vietnam. Without American presence in south-east Asia, it is entirely feasible that the majority - if not all - of the region would have turned socialist.