On Strategy and the Vietnam War

Although ten years have passed since conflict in South Vietnam ended, Americans are still debating the significance of what Professor George Herring has labeled America's longest war. Much of the discussion centers on American strategy in Southeast Asia between 1961 and 1972. Current commentators such as Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr., and General William E. DePuy argue that the war could have been won if Washington has followed a more decisive and comprehensive military strategy in Southeast Asia. A formal declaration of war, mobilization of the reserves, the military occupation of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and a naval blockade of Haiphong harbor and perhaps of Sihanoukville as well are all part of a recipe which, they feel, might have changed the customer of the struggle. Like any historical hypothesis, their assertions are difficult to prove or refute. yet many of their assumptions can be challenged. Despite the vast material on the Vietnam War pouring forth over the last twenty years, there are still document collections hitherto unexploited, memoirs yet to be written, and entire areas of the conflict that have been unaddressed. The US Army's official history of the period has still to see the light of day. Future revelations may ultimately change our perceptions of what took place in Vietnam and in turn effect our judgment of the war's lessons, some of which appear so self-evident today

Development economics · Economics · Military strategy · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Vietnam War · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies