To cage the red dragon : SEATO and the defence of Southeast Asia, 1955-1965

The South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was the focal point of Western military efforts to deter and if need be defeat, communist aggression in Southeast Asia between 1955 and 1965. In this mission it was, on its own terms entirely successful, and none of the SEATO regional members (Pakistan, Thailand or the Philippines) succumbed to communist rule, then or later. Much of Southeast Asia emerged from the geo-strategic vulnerabilities of the immediate post-colonial period un-swayed by the efforts of local (or foreign-based) communist movements. To Cage the Red Dragon examines the role of SEATO during its first ten years as a military alliance in helping secure this outcome. The South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was the focal point of Western military efforts to deter, and if need be defeat, communist aggression in Southeast Asia between 1955 and 1965. In this mission it was, on its own terms entirely successful; and none of the SEATO regional members (Pakistan, Thailand or the Philippines) succumbed to communist rule, then or later. Most Southeast Asian countries emerged from the geo-strategic vulnerabilities of the immediate post-colonial period un-swayed by the efforts of local (or foreign-based) communist movements. To Cage the Red Dragon examines the role of SEATO during its first ten years as a military alliance in helping secure this outcome. The book also details actions by member states (notably France and Pakistan) that led the United States, SEATO's primary advocate, to sideline the alliance in 1965, a step that precipitated its subsequent rapid decline. To Cage the Red Dragon challenges the popular assumption that the alliance was a hollow bluffa 'paper tiger' even before the Second Indo-China War (1965-75) made it irrelevant. In fact during its first ten years of existence, SEATO was the primary vehicle for Western anti-communist defence planning and co-operation in the region. SEATO gave Western defence activity in Southeast Asia a coherence that it sorely needed at a time of instability and uncertainty for the region, and the United States strongly resisted all attempts by its allies to draw it into other multilateral or bilateral security arrangements. The alliance made a vital and lasting contribution to Southeast Asia's security during the early days of the Cold War. It Is Now 20 Years Since The Cold War Effectively Ended With The Dramatic Collapse Of The Soviet Union And Its Client States In Eastern And Central Europe, And Just Over Three Decades Since The Final Bloody Climax Of The Vietnam War Played Itself Out On The Streets Of Saigon, Phnom Penh And Vientiane. The Historiography Of The Wider Cold War Has Burgeoned Accordingly, Greatly Assisted By Increasing Access To All Manner Of Archival Material Belonging To Former Foes On Both Sides Of What Was Once The Iron Curtain. That Of The Vietnam War, At Least Insofar As The West Is Concerned, Had Already Established Itself As A Field Of Significant Depth And Breadth By The End Of The 1980s. However, It Too Has Benefited And Continued To Grow In The Wake Of The Large-scale Release By Many Western Governments Of Their Remaining Official Material From That Era Into The Public Domain. Maps -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Seato's Place In The Cold War -- Chapter 2. The Conventional Military Threat -- Chapter 3. Seato's Military Organisation 1955-1965 -- Chapter 4. Seato's Strategic Concepts -- Chapter 5. Planning For Limited War -- Chapter 6. Plan 5: The First Counter-insurgency Plan -- Chapter 7. Seato Counter-insurgency Planning For South Vietnam And Thailand 1960-1963 -- Chapter 8. The Beginning Of The End 1964-1965 -- Appendices -- Glossary -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. Damien Fenton. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 253 - 299) And Index.