ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: INVISIBLE ENEMIES: THE AMERICAN WAR ON VIETNAM, 1975-2000 Edwin Anton Martini, III Doctor of Philosophy, 2004 Dissertation Directed by: Professor Myron Lounsbury, Department of American Studies This dissertation examines the construction of United States policy toward Vietnam from 1975-2000. Whereas the period since 1975 has traditionally been relegated to the epilogues of historical narratives about American-Vietnamese relations, this study moves that era to the center of the story, employing an interdisciplinary methodology to explore the intersections of diplomatic history, cultural representation, and international political economy. In the years following the withdrawal of its military forces from Southeast Asia, I argue, the United States continued to wage economic, political, and cultural warfare against the nation and people of Vietnam. In particular, I examine the ways in which cultural representations intersected and interacted with the formation of foreign policy. Both of these activities, I argue, were driven by the same cultural logic of “normalizing” the historical memory of the war, reinserting recuperative American narratives at the center of public discourses about the war while marginalizing and silencing Vietnamese voices. What I call “The American War on Vietnam” was thus as much a battle for the cultural memory of the war in American society as it was a lengthy and bitter economic, political, and diplomatic war against the nation and people of Vietnam. I use a range of primary sources to reconstruct the policy history of this period, including many previously overlooked Congressional hearings. I also bring together a large body of secondary literature from a wide array of fields, including cultural and diplomatic history, cultural studies, political science, and economics. Pieced together from these disparate sources, I trace the changes and continuities in the American War on Vietnam over its twenty-five year course, from the initial imposition of an unprecedented and ill-conceived program of economic sanctions in 1975 to the final ratification of a bilateral trade agreement between the two nations in 2000. INVISIBLE ENEMIES: THE AMERICAN WAR ON VIETNAM, 1975-2000 by Edwin Anton Martini, III Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2004 Dissertation Committee: Professor Myron Lounsbury, Chair Professor Mary Sies Professor David Sicilia Professor Kandice Chuh Professor H. Bruce Franklin © Copyright by Edwin Anton Martini, III 2004 i For Genanne ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could never have been possible without the support of many, many people. To begin with, I must thank Myron Lounsbury, who has been a trusted and valued advisor since I first arrived in graduate school and has taught me a great deal about being an advisor, scholar, and teacher. Myron was always prepared with valuable insights into my work, suggestions for revisions and future directions, and another list of suggested readings. Although I will never understand nor forgive his appreciation for Duke basketball, I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated his guidance. I have been equally fortunate in the rest of my committee, all of whom supported a project that was admittedly broad and ambitious by giving me plenty of rope with which I could either hang myself or successfully climb out of the hole I had dug. David Sicilia admirably if somewhat unknowingly, stepped into the position of secondary reader for the dissertation, and waded through chapter upon chapter, providing valuable suggestions and some copy editing along the way. Kandice Chuh agreed to be on the committee despite being completely overcommitted in her own department, and the final version of this project will be infinitely better for having her on board. Mary Sies was extremely instrumental in developing this dissertation over several years, helping me to refine my thinking and focus through several courses and conversations. More than that, however, Mary is responsible for convincing me, first, to come to graduate school at iii Maryland and, secondly, to stay in graduate school whenever I was feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, or some combination thereof. She has been a wonderful teacher, mentor, and advisor. Special thanks must go to the final member of my committee, Bruce Franklin. Long before I had the fortune to know him personally, Bruce taught me about the American war in Vietnam, and about American Culture in general, through his prolific catalogue of books and articles. I first contacted Bruce about being on a panel at the American Studies Association with Jerry Lembcke and myself in the fall of 2000, and have glommed onto him ever since. He has been incredibly generous with his time and energy, providing his thoughts on my work and advice on teaching, landing (and keeping) a job, and getting (and staying) published. Bruce has been one part career mentor, one part literary agent, and one part intellectual role model. I can only hope one day to achieve a tiny fraction of what Bruce has accomplished as an activist, scholar, and teacher. Throughout my graduate career, I was fortunate to receive funding from a variety of sources that allowed me to pursue my research. Given the lack of resources available to the Department of American Studies at Maryland, I have always been fully aware of how privileged I was to be the recipient of a Graduate School Fellowship that allowed me to complete my coursework in a timely manner. I received financial support both from my department and the Graduate School at Maryland to attend several conferences to iv present parts of my research. In particular, I am very grateful for the Goldhaber Travel Grant, with matching funds from American Studies, that allowed me to visit Vietnam in the summer of 2001. This dissertation was also supported by a Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship for 2002-2003, which provided much needed time to finish my research and focus on writing. I was also lucky enough to work within a stone’s throw of the Government Document repository at the University of Maryland. The reference librarians in that section helped me wade through the most illogical and inefficient classification system ever devised, and helped keep me sane while they moved and reorganized the entire section during 2003. A number of staff at the National Archives and the Library of Congress were also extremely helpful on a number of occasions in helping me track down hard to find documents. Susan Pyzynski of the Farber Archives at Brandeis University, gave me first crack at the papers of Stephen Solarz, before most of the collection had even been catalogued or organized. Less directly responsible for the dissertation but equally important are many who have helped guide me along the way. Thanks to Stu McConnell and Rick Berg for teaching me more about writing, reading, and thinking as an undergraduate at Pitzer College than I had learned in 18 years prior or six years since; Ed Ingebretsen for giving me the opportunity to teach in the wonderful and rewarding environment that is American Studies at Georgetown; Scott Laderman for being a great friend, colleague, and v co-conspirator; Alex Bloom for helping me think through my dissertation in its earliest stages during our trip to Vietnam and for putting me up whenever I find myself in Boston. Dr. Gordon Kelly taught the first class I ever attended in graduate school and has served as an unknowing intellectual and professional model ever since. Nancy Struna always had a joke at the ready, made sure I never took myself too seriously, and didn’t mind too much when I took to calling her “Dubya.” I have benefited immeasurably from an incredible group of graduate student colleagues at Maryland. From Hegemony Sucks to GSAS, from basketball games to basketball pools, from 601 to 799s, from CWG to CHASA, though office floods and RAM thefts, through riots and wars, I cannot imagine what life would have been like in graduate school without all of my fellow AMSTUDs. Likewise, my brothers and sisters in GALOL have taught me things about solidarity and justice that cannot be learned anywhere else. We have built something lasting and important here at Maryland, and will always be the most organic union around, the vanguard of the Graduate Employee Labor movement. Regardless of what happens at Maryland, I am convinced that the academy we pass along to our students someday will be a more just, equitable, and sustainable place than that which we have inherited. While it would be impossible to list all from these groups those to whom I am indebted, the following people cannot go unmentioned. In no particular order, Andrew Johnston, Nicole King, Joshua Woodfork, Asim Ali, Bruce Johansen, Debra Deruyver, vi Elizabeth Hagovsky, Shelby Shapiro, Jeremy Korr, and Sarah Dangelas have all been amazing friends, critics, and comrades and have all meant more to me than they will ever know. Cathy Jones is not only the best organizer I have ever met, but one of the most intelligent and most selfless people as well. Special thanks go to David Silver and Kelly Quinn—who can never be separated in my mind—for being amazing role models, friends, and mentors to me and to so many others along the way. Graduate school would not have been graduate school without D Snyder. D and I tried on several occasions to conquer the world, coming up a bit short but all the better for it. D also introduced me to two things that have changed my worldview: Maryland Basketball and Uncle Tupelo. He has always put up with my unsophisticated musical tastes and my incessant complaints about referees. Aside from leading the Cyberculture Working Group and the Chesapeake Chapter of the American Studies together, organizing several major conferences, founding Graduate Students of American Studies, and getting into a heap of trouble and a whole lot of fun along the way, D and I have watched countless basketball, football, and hockey games over even more countless Buffalo wings.