America, the Vietnam War, and the World: Comparative International Perspectives (review)

In justifying another book on the Vietnam War the editors state that their fundamental concern "is to link together three dimensions of the Vietnam War—the war as America's war, as an international event, and as a starting point for historical comparisons—and to analyze the inter-connectedness of these dimensions" (p. 2).

This book is not really about military history except in a general way. The various chapters deal with the Vietnam war in the broad sense with topics such as the "International Monetary System, 1960–1975," the Vietnam war and the Center-Left government in Italy, and West German protest against the war. There are also chapters on U.S. relations with such countries as Thailand and Australia.

Several chapters present comparative analyses of topics such as the U.S. role in the Philippines (1898–1900) and in Vietnam (1964–1968); U.S. actions in Vietnam and Japan's in China (1937–1945); and British reaction to the formation of the United States and U.S. responses to the "Socialist Republic of Vietnam." Two chapters compare the endings of World War I and the Korean War to the termination of the Vietnam War. The former is an interesting analysis of war memorials and memories while the latter is purely political history.

The volume contains relatively little material on the actual Soviet and Chinese military involvement in the war. One essay concentrates on the ideological conflict between the two but does not really deal with the significant military contributions of both to North Vietnam. As Col. Bui Tin (former North Vietnamese Army general staff officer) in a 1995 interview noted, the war would not have been possible without Soviet aid.

The Republic of South Vietnam and its people receive only minor consideration. The general attitude toward the South is set by the first essay which characterizes U.S. policy toward Vietnam as "Re-Colonization." The assumption in most essays actually dealing with Vietnam is that the majority of the people were yearning to live under a Communist dictatorship. The continuing persecution of the Hmong, Montagnards, Nungs, and other groups is completely ignored although it is part of the so-called "Vietnamese Revolution."

One of the editors, Lloyd C. Gardner, finally comes to grips with "the war as America's war" in the concluding essay. In an insightful analysis, he highlights the diversity of approaches to any understanding of this "highly contested territory" (p. 341). This reviewer would recommend starting the book with this essay.