Vietnam Economy After Embargo
When the last United States forces left South Vietnam on March 29, 1973 in over-stuffed helicopters and crowded aircraft carriers, it was to be the closing of book whose chapters lasted through four presidencies. When North Vietnam successfully invaded South Vietnam and captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, an embargo originally placed on the north by the United States was extended onto the entire, newly-named Republic of Vietnam. That embargo, ordered by President Richard M. Nixon, stayed in place until President Bill Clinton dropped it on February 3, 1994. President Clinton has asserted on numerous occasions that the only reason he improved any relations America had with Vietnam was solely in the context of achieving the fullest possible account for Americans held as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from the Vietnam War. Besides many things may shows that President Clinton's explanation involved a lot more than MIAs and POWs, but was resultant of power center influences on policy-making. History between the United States and Vietnam as well as Vietnam's relationships with the Soviet Union, China and Japan are aspect that can proves the truth of this thesis.
The ending of the economic embargo of Vietnam in 1994 opened a new panorama over international marketing. A new high potential market, with more than 70 millions of people was avaiable for the companies: the next great frontier.
As soon as the embargo was removed a lot of companies from all over the globe started their trading in Vietnam. But for now, the Vietam market have difficulties to take off. Why? Why a so "high potential market" after more than ten years from the removal of the embargo in not able to grow up in...
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...(2004 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 70.35 years
Total fertility rate: 2.22 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Ethnic groups: Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups
Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (90.3%)
GDP per capita: purchasing power parity $2,500 (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 37% (1998 est.)
Labor force by occupation: agriculture 63%, industry and services 37% (2000 est.)
Main trading paretners: United States, China, Japan.
Internet users: 3.5 million (2003)
(Source: CIA - World Factbook 2005)
Lawrence’s purpose in writing this book was concise and to the point. In recent history, due to the fall of the Soviet bloc, new information has been made available for use in Vietnam. As stated in the introduction, “This book aims to take account of this new scholarship in a brief, accessible narrative of the Vietnam War… It places the war within the long flow of Vietnamese history and then captures the goals and experiences of various governments that became deeply embroiled in the country during the second half of the twentieth century” (Lawrence, 3.) This study is not only about the American government and how they were involved in the Vietnam conflict, but highlights other such countries as France, China, and the Soviet Union. Lawrence goes on to say that one of his major goals in writing this book is to examine the American role in Vietnam within an international context (Lawrence, 4.) Again, this goes to show that the major purpose of Lawrence’s study included not only ...
The Vietnam War brought many tears and casualties to both the United States and Vietnam. Millions of soldiers lost their lives in the time consuming battle. On February 8, 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote a letter to Ho Chi Minh, Dictator of Vietnam at the time. President Johnson’s letter expresses his hopes of ending this conflict that has gone on so long in Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh replied back on February 15, 1967 stating that it had been the United States that prolonged the wicked war. President Ho Chi Minh’s reply to President Johnson was the more persuasive of the two letters, because he appealed more to pathos, used stronger and bolder diction, and asked an important rhetorical question.
Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, portrays stories of the Vietnam War. Though not one hundred percent accurate, the stories portray important historical events. The Things They Carried recovers Vietnam War history and portrays situations the American soldiers faced. The United States government represents a political power effect during the Vietnam War. The U. S. enters the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. The U.S. government felt if communism spreads to South Vietnam, then it will spread elsewhere. Many Americans disapproved of their country’s involvement. Men traveled across the border to avoid the draft. The powerful United States government made the decision to enter the war, despite many Americans’ opposition. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried applies New Historicism elements, including Vietnam history recovery and the political power of the United States that affected history.
The investigation assesses the level of success President Richard Nixon’s Vietnamization policy attained during the Vietnam War to end U.S. involvement in the war. In the strive to evaluate the level of success this policy demonstrated, the investigation evaluates the ability of the policy to equip, expand, and train Southern Vietnamese forces and allocate them to a substantial combat position, all while simultaneously reducing the quantity of U.S. combat troops in a steady manner. The Vietnamization policy is investigated and analyzed by both its causes and effects. The motivation that led to Nixon’s creation of this policy will be investigated as well. The investigation encompasses an array of sources, which will be analyzed for their purpose, value, bias, accuracy, and any further limitations.
Only in the Vietnam War was the United States’ participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change from prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the United States’ gotten involved in the first place? This paper will prove that, in fact, America should not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place between 1947- 1975.
The Vietnam War was the longest and most expensive war in American History. The toll we paid wasn't just financial, it cost the people involved greatly, physically and mentally. This war caused great distress and sadness, as well as national confusion. Everyone had that one burning question being why? Why were we even there? The other question being why did America withdrawal from Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to answer these two burning questions, and perhaps add some clarity to the confusion American was experiencing.
In May 1961, John F. Kennedy sent investigators to Vietnam, thus turning the tide in favor of the United States and South Vietnam. Unfortunately, with the flow of infiltrators and weapons from North Vietnam, the United States and South Vietnam lost their upper hand (Tucker). Conclusively, 2.5 million Americans served and about 58,000 lost their lives in Vietnam (Vietnam Veterans Memorial). On April 30, 1975 Vietnam was finally reunited under a communist government. Once the war ended, Vietnam was devastated. Both the South and North Vietnamese economies were in shambles and they suffered from the chemical pesticides. The Vietnamese also lost about 3 million soldiers and civilians during the war. The United States also suffered due to the fact that the military was completely shattered and had to be rebuilt. The inflation was at an ultimate high from the failure to fact the actual costs of war. These situations forced Washington D.C. to reevaluate the power of the United States
President Dwight Eisenhower conditionally pledged to support South Vietnam’s new nation in 1955. In the time period between 1955-1961 the United States pumped seven billion dollars in aid so that Vietnam would not “go over quickly” like a “row of dominoes” (McNamara 31). In the next 6 years Vietnam would cost America billions of dollars, thousands of lives, and the disaffection of much of the United States public. Yet in the end, South Vietnam would fall to the North less than 2 years after the United States military involvement ceased.
Vietnam had no prosperous period before its independence in 1945. Since then Vietnam’s development path can be divided into three periods. The first period runs from 1945 to 1975 and was a period in which Vietnam was a major battleground of the Cold War with two Indochina wars. The First Indochina War (1946-1954) was between France, supported by the USA and its allies, and the communist force known as Viet Minh supported by China and the Soviet Union. The Second Indochina War was from 1954-1975. The USA and other members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) combined with the forces of the Republic of Vietnam (the South) to fight against the army of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the North), which was de facto supported by the Soviet Union and China. During this period, both market economy and central planning economic models were imported and mechanically applied in Vietnam. Neither model generated the expected results however, partly due to the two wars, a lack of necessary conditions for growth, and the general failure of the economic models adopted. As a result, real GDP per capita increased just 2.9 times (or 4.8% per year) over the period 1955-1973 (the peak year before the war’s end), with real GDP per capita increasing by just 64 percent (or 2.8 percent per year) (Tran et al. 2000).
During the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential administration, both those policy makers who supported America’s involvement in Vietnam and those who opposed the war were part of the “containment generation.” They had reached political maturity during World War II and the early years of the Cold War and had experienced the intense anticommunism of the McCarthy era of the early 1950s. These leaders understood and applied the lessons of American nationalism, which had the primary message that the U.S. was the dominating nation that had to embrace its responsibility to aid and improve nations in America’s image. Therefore, when they saw that there was a threat of the spread of communism to areas of Southeast Asia, a majority of the politicians were in favor of the war, which was the most costly U.S. foreign policy intervention during the Cold War. President Johnson and others considered Vietnam a crucial Cold war battleground where an American loss would trigger dire domestic and international repercussions. This view led him to decide to enter the Vietnam War, which was a condemnable action considering that there were intensifying domestic issues that he neglected because he was engrossed in the Vietnam situation. Anti-War protesters, a few politicians, and even the South Vietnamese all pointed out that this war was immoral and was resulting in destruction. Ultimately, Johnson’s decision resulted in a huge price paid on America’s part for its determination to prevent the spread of communism through this war and in the deaths of more 50,000 in an overseas war that was extremely difficult to win and that deepened divisions at home.
Vietnam’s involvement in the Vietnam War impacted Vietnam in various significant ways. The Vietnam War was a very crucial war in Vietnamese history and changed Vietnamese society. The war was enduring and lasted for twenty-one years. It began in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war commenced due to disagreement of communism in Vietnam. The war was between North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and The United States. North Vietnam supported and encouraged communism in Vietnam. On the other hand, South Vietnam and The Untied States opposed communism and tried to prevent communism from spreading throughout the country. This eventually led to the chaotic Vietnam War. The war gained national attention and created pandemonium worldwide. The war impacted Vietnam in major ways and also impacted vital factors such as health, life in Vietnam, and economy. The leaders of North and South Vietnam also impacted all the involvement that took place in the war. The Vietnam War changed Vietnam greatly. The war left Vietnam in shambles and the war was also a calamity.
“In July 1965, Lyndon Johnson chose to Americanize the war in Vietnam.” Although Johnson chose to enter America into the war, there were events previous that caused America to enter and take over the war. The South Vietnamese were losing the war against Communism – giving Johnson all the more reason to enter the war, and allowing strong American forces to help stop communism. There were other contributing factors leading up to the entrance of the war; America helped assist the French in the war, Johnson’s politics, the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the 1954 Geneva Conference. President Johnson stated, “For 10 years three American Presidents-President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President--and the American people have been actively concerned with threats to the peace and security of the peoples of southeast Asia from the Communist government of North Viet-Nam.”
The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States approached military action and helped establish the role of the United States within the new world order.
The Vietnam War is known to be one of America’s toughest wars, starting in November of 1955 and ending with the “Fall of Saigon” in March of 1975. In 1973 all American combatant troops had departed Vietnam due to a peace treaty which only left a couple thousand Americans for humanitarian aid with only a handful of Marines for their protection. The North Vietnamese knew that with American military forces withdrawn, taking over South Vietnam would no longer be a challenge. As the North Vietnamese Army started migrating south the remaining Americans relied on the U.S. Government to develop a plan to safely extract the remaining personnel without involving U.S. combatant forces.
During the Vietnam War in 1965 the US began sending troops and platoons to fight the war. However, since war expenses overly affected the economy in the US the businesses began to become affected. American businesses were concerned about the cost of the war in Vietnam since they perceived the conflict to be of high costs. They were worried that this would eventually hurt the domestic economy and cause inflation among the country. Businesses had to adjust to the increased inflation and therefore they had to offer higher wages to their employees and increased prices of their products. The amount the US government was spending on war and tax increases hurt American businesses. At the end of the war the US suffered from economic