It was 50 years ago that the U.S. signed a peace treaty to end its long war in Indochina, after losing over 58,000 troops and spending billions of dollars in a failed effort to prevent the nationalist-communist forces of North Vietnam from unifying the country.
The U.S. killed 2-3 million Vietnamese, dropped 4.6 million tons of bombs, and created 15 million refugees–but still failed.
Award-winning historian of the Vietnam War Robert Buzzanco has written and lectured widely about the war, including its final stages, the peace treaty, and the legacy of Vietnam.
Buzzanco is a history professor at the University of Houston and co-host of the Green & Red Podcast and is the author of Vietnam and the Transformation of American Life, Masters of War: Military Dissent and Politics in the Vietnam Era and many other publications about the Vietnam War.
Last March Bob appeared on the Lean to the Left podcast to discuss the war in Ukraine. We’re delighted to have him back to talk about Vietnam and its aftermath 50 years later.
Here are questions we discuss in the episode:
Q. Can you put into context what led to the 1973 peace treaty and its aftermath?
Q. Let’s talk about the Christmas Bombings launched by President Nixon in December 1972. What led to this offensive and what was the eventual result?
Q. Today, Vietnam, our former enemy is a trading partner with the US and last year Americans invested nearly $3 billion there. Was it worth it?
Q. What lessons did we lesrn from the Vietnam War?
Q. How does that relate to American foreign policy today when it comes to Russia, Ukraine, China and North Korea?
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