An International History of the Vietnam War: Volume II: The Struggle for South-East Asia, 1961–65

The second volume covers the period between 1961 and the decision of the Johnson administration to escalate the conflict in February 1965. In particular, reacting against the common tendency to regard counterinsurgency as merely the prelude to a larger war, it seeks to understand the Kennedy strategy in its own terms, placing Vietnam decisions into the wider context of Kennedy's almost idealistic awareness of the growing importance of the third world. The author re-examines the well-known crises and debates of those years and attempts to plot the sequence of Hanoi's decision-making. He also places Vietnam into its regional context, paying attention to successive crises in Laos and to Indonesia's policy of 'confrontation' against the Federation of Malaysia. Whilst the notorious 'domino theory' now appears much too simplistic a formulation, it is nevertheless clear that what was happening during the 1960s was in many respects a struggle for South-East Asia which the United States could not afford to lose. '...Dr Smith's second volume maintains the high standards of scholarship and lucidity set by his first, and it is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of international relations.' David Gillard, Times Higher Education Supplement Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-18 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 December 1961: Counterinsurgency....Pages 21-33 Hanoi and its Allies....Pages 35-53 The Kennedy Strategy Takes Shape....Pages 55-76 China’s Asian Strategy: a New Phase....Pages 77-89 Front Matter....Pages 91-91 The Missiles Crisis and its Aftermath....Pages 93-113 Laos: the Limits of Détente....Pages 115-134 South-East Asia: the Regional Perspective....Pages 135-145 Vietnam: the ‘Buddhist Crisis’....Pages 147-162 Front Matter....Pages 163-163 Intensification of the Struggle....Pages 165-180 The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem....Pages 181-196 Diplomatic Impasse....Pages 197-218 Hanoi and Moscow: the 9th Plenum....Pages 219-237 Front Matter....Pages 239-239 Coercive Diplomacy....Pages 241-258 The Third Laos Crisis....Pages 259-275 The Gulf of Tonkin Crisis....Pages 277-303 ‘The Focal Point of World Contradictions’....Pages 305-317 Front Matter....Pages 319-319 Washington Hesitates: the Autumn Debate....Pages 321-343 Hanoi Decides....Pages 345-362 February 1965: Escalation....Pages 363-379 Back Matter....Pages 381-429 During 1965 the Vietnam War was transformed into an American War. 'Escalation' brought the deployment of increasing numbers of United States ground troops, and a slowly expanding air campaign against North Vietnam. not even, as a 'big unit' war on the ground, to spread beyond the borders of Vietnam.