The Vietnam War

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VIETNAM WAR TO U.S. HEGEMONY
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Of all the wars that the U.S. has been involved in, the Vietnam War was the most significant one in defining America's U.S. foreign policy and position in world politics. Although Vietnam is often viewed as a lost cause, it placed America at the center of global affairs. Coming at a time when there was no undisputed super power, Vietnam was the battlefield where the military superiority of super-power contenders was being tested. At the same time, it is curious that the U.S. invested a lot of resources in the war despite having no direct interest in the North-South Vietnam conflict. Despite the huge losses it suffered in terms of casualties and emerging domestic anti-war sentiments, the U.S. government continued to send more troops into Vietnam. This reaction suggests that in some way, the Vietnam War was significant to U.S. interests globally beyond the immediate goal of containing communism. This essay argues that the Vietnam War was more than just the desire of a capitalist crusader to contain the spread of communism to South Vietnam. In addition to repulsing the southward expansion of communism, U.S. involvement in the war was also motivated by the desire to assert American hegemony in global issues.
Coming a few years after the Second World War, Vietnam was the ideal moment for the U.S. to defeat China and the Soviet Union to assert her position as the world's de facto leader. The outcome of the World War II was a big lesson to the world's great nations fighting for the super power status; if any country wants to impose itself as a world leader, it must prove its military superiority. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the conclusive impact the two attacks had on World War II, showed that future global conflicts would not be solved by diplomacy, but the ability of one nation to instill fear in her opponents.
A consideration of the players involved in the Vietnam War shows that more was at stake than just the need to promote communism/capitalism or support a friendly state against external aggression. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union and China were the two countries with enough military capability, resources, and the willingness to challenge U.S hegemony in world affairs. Having watched the U.S. emerge as a super power following its decisive involvement in World War Two, the Soviet Union understood that the only way it can assert itself as a global super power was by defeating the U.S in military showdowns fought through proxy wars. In the absence of a direct conflict with the U.S., the only avenue that the Soviets could use to challenge America's global political influence was through proxy wars. The Soviets' decision to arm, and perhaps incite North Vietnam to attack an American ally, fits into the view that the Soviets were looking for ways to challenge the U.S. indirectly. On its part, the U.S could easily interpret the Soviet Union's suppor...