The Cold War of Vietnam | Report

Assignment 3: America as Superpower-Confrontation in a Nuclear Age (1947-Present) In Assignment 3, we ask you to write about America's international superpower role for the long period since World War II to the present using a Writing Guide provided in Blackboard. Your paper must use a minimum of three sources from the list provided below. Your first step to completing this paper is to pick your topic. Below you will find two lists; one refers to Cold War period (1947-1990) examples of confrontation and one list provides examples of confrontations occurring in the Post-Cold War period (1991-Present). Each example will involve a specific strategic concern and confrontation. Review the examples below and choose one strategic concern and one confrontation from each time period to focus on in your paper. 

Running Head: Superpower Confrontation of US in Nuclear Age
SUPERPOWER CONFRONTATION OF US IN NUCLEAR AGE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1Superpower Confrontation of US in Nuclear Age
Introduction
In 1954, when the Vietnamese defeated French then the country divided into two parts:
North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The Cold War of Vietnam was fought between the
government of South Vietnam and communist North Vietnam. Communist countries like Peoples
Republic of China and Soviet Union supported North Vietnam whereas South Vietnam was
supported by United State; an anti-communist country. The reason for the War is to prevent the
spread of communism, national fears that would result in a change in the balance of power all
over Asia (Crow et.al, 2019). This paper throws the light on the international superpower role of
the United States since World War II till present date and why did the U.S. enter in the Vietnam
cold war and what is the strategic concern to the War. Domino theory which was involved in
Vietnam cold war policy that suggests the communist nation government would easily lead a
communist acquisition in other neighboring countries (Robb & Gill, 2019).
Discussion
The Vietnam cold War can be contemplated as the proxy War held between the
south and North Vietnam. The United State and the Soviet Union do not directly go into the War;
instead, they supported each side in the War. But this Vietnam War created tension between the
United States and the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1991 (Del Pero & Romero, 2018). The
United States supported the Vietnam War, and the domino theory was established to prevent the
spread of communism. The basic principle was that the expansion of communism would be
spread throughout Asia if French Indo-china fell into the communist revolution (Robb & Gill,
2019). President John F. Kennedy persuaded that communist China was supporting North
Vietnam. So he approved the U.S Military campaign in South Vietnam to help the nationalist

2Superpower Confrontation of US in Nuclear Age
government to kick out the communist rebellion. In 1965, U.S military began bombing in North
Vietnam to weaken the support Soviet Union is providing to South Vietnam, and the
communism is withdrawn( McKercher, 2017). In 1968, Tet Offensive launched under General V.
Nguyen Giap, and the surprise attack aimed to bring out the stalemate situation in Vietnam as the
U.S led troops also collapsed. South Vietnam enjoys the victory of the War as they managed to
strike back quickly. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the first major non-
wartime alliance established by the U.S while competing with the Soviet Union. In Vietnam, the
U.S led to the tremendous growth of political presence and military presence all over the world
to intervene in the spread of communism (Ross, 2016). After the downfall of the Soviet Union,
the United States continued the alliance to secure peace and prosperity even after the threat from
Soviet has been withdrawn. Therefore the U.S is the world’s most pivotal power. The
superpower role of the U.S in the Vietnam War started after Second World War and during the
war it escalated into full commitment (Palmer et.al 2019). The involvement of the United States
in South Vietnam arises from the combination of colonial history of French in Indochina with the
US War with Japan.
Conclusion
From the above, it can be concluded that despite the indirect cold war led between the
Soviet Union and the U.S., America seems to be more powerful because the U.S mission were
carried at a compatible rate by sending the huge amount of military troops to the South Vietnam.
The main purpose was to restrict the communist expansion in rest of the neighboring Asian
countries as it might lead to the communist takeover in Malaya, Thailand, Laos and other
neighboring countries of Vietnam. This results in change of the balance of the power all over the
Asia. Due to this power the U.S was recognized as the policeman of the world.

3Superpower Confrontation of US in Nuclear Age
Reference
Crow, T., Levin, E., Nixon, M., Rosler, M., & Markoski, K. (2019). Artists Respond: American
Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975. Princeton University Press.
Del Pero, M., & Romero, F. (2018). The United States, Italy and the Cold War: Interpreting and
Periodising a Contradictory and Complicated Relationship. In Italy in the International
System from Détente to the End of the Cold War (pp. 15-33). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
McKercher, B. C. (2017). From détente to renewed Cold War, 1965–1979 Britain and American
involvement in Vietnam. In Britain, America, and the Special Relationship since
1941 (pp. 115-131). Routledge.
Palmer, M., Nguyen, C. V., Mitra, S., Mont, D., & Groce, N. E. (2019). Long-lasting
consequences of war on disability. Journal of Peace Research, 56(6), 860-875.
Robb, T. K., & Gill, D. J. (2019). Divided Allies: Strategic Cooperation against the Communist
Threat in the Asia-Pacific during the Early Cold War. Cornell University Press.
Ross, R. S. (2016). China, the United States and the Soviet Union: Tripolarity and Policy
Making in the Cold War: Tripolarity and Policy Making in the Cold War. Routledge.