DOCSLIB.ORG

The Vietnam War and the 'Miracle of East Asia'

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Vietnam War and the 'Miracle of East Asia' Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 4, Number 3, 2003 The Vietnam War and the ‘Miracle of East Asia’ PARK Keunho (Translated by Hiroko Kawasakiya CLAYTON) Introduction Remarkable economic development in East Asia after the latter half of 1960s provided a tremendous shock against the perception relating to the North–South problem that the economic gap between the north and the south continues to widen. Unsurprisingly, a lot of research interest centres on the resolution of the issue, with the development structure of the East Asian economy in particular being analysed from various angles. Due to such interests, it cannot be denied that much research, including that analysing the progress of economic growth in East Asia, tended to search for general theories of economic development for present day developing countries. The effects of the Vietnam War, which cannot be ignored in Asian economic development, have until now hardly been verified. This can be attributed to the thinking that accidental factors, including the Vietnam War, should be abstracted from economic development theory. Most research so far, including that examining the impact of the Vietnam War on the Asian economy, is merely about Vietnam-related procurement. The effects of the Vietnam War on economic development in Asia included not only cash revenue aspects due to ‘Vietnam-related procurement’, but also a profitable climate in international economic relationships, which played a definite important role. For the East Asia region, temporary revenues, such as those from Vietnam-related procurement, were surely significant. However, rather than that, issues, including the development of America’s Asian policy and its economic impact on the East Asia region, are more important.1 Specifically, it is necessary to examine not only Vietnam-related procurement, which was temporary, but also how continuous economic aid and the global trading market contributed to economic development in the East-Asia region. While doing this, I would also like to examine in detail how the Vietnam War impacted on economic development in Korea. Issues regarding the Korean army’s dispatch of troops to Vietnam are recently garnering attention in Korean society in various forms. Many issues, including the harm to Korean troops caused by defoliant used during the Vietnam War and after-effects problems, such as post-war neurosis, and issues such as civilian massacres by Korean troops, have not yet been explicated. This paper aims to examine these issues as well. In particular, the issue regarding the civilian massacre by Korean troops is significant in the sense that the Korean people, who had been seeing themselves as victims, began to face their own wrongdoings. The pursuit of American government responsibility in the ‘NoGeunRi Massacre’, in which American soldiers killed civilians during the Korean War, and the responsibility of the Japanese government regarding comfort women, while leaving to one side the issue of the Korean army massacring civilians, were also because these were seen as unforgivable problems. In January 2000, the ‘Korean Truth Committee on the Vietnam War’ was formed in cooperation with 12 NGO groups, and has been working to investigate the truth and to promote a campaign for Truth and Reconciliation concerning the Vietnam War. In this way, responsibility not only as victims, but also as wrongdoers, has begun to be pursued. Furthermore, the enormous scale of the massacres, as well as the distinct possibility that they were done indiscriminately, adds to this issue. However, it is a reality that the reasons such ISSN 1464-9373 Print/ISSN 1469-8447 Online/03/030372–27 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd DOI: 10.1080/1464937032000143760 The Vietnam War and the ‘Miracle of East Asia’ 373 massacres occurred have not yet been clarified, despite their significance. This, needless to say, is largely due to the fact that the truth of the issue has not yet been revealed, and that research on the topic has been deficient. Thus, this paper aims to examine the background of the genocide of Vietnamese civilians based on materials including notes and testimonies by Korean soldiers who participated in the Vietnam War, and on a damage fact-finding inquiry by a Korean NGO. The Vietnam War and the ‘Miracle of East Asia’ ‘Special support for Southeast Asia operations’ and Vietnam-related procurement ‘The Vietnam War, which developed into large-scale combat in 1965, the turning point of the war came in January 1969 when President Johnson stopped bombing North Vietnam, ended in 1975 with the North and South Vietnam were unified after the collapse of the South Vietnamese government.’ The Vietnam War, which lasted 11 long years between 1965 and 1975, had an immeasurable impact on the economies of Asian countries. After March 1965, when President Johnson started sending US combat troops to Vietnam, the Vietnam War escalated and US intervention into Vietnam became full-scale. 1965 can be seen as the turning point of the expansion of the Vietnam War. The number of US soldiers sent to South Vietnam sharply increased to 180,000 in 1965 from 23,000 at the end of December 1964. At its peak, that number rose to as high as 550,000 in 1968. As Table 1 shows, military spending began increasing rapidly from the latter half of 1965 in line with the escalation of the Vietnam War. In the budget for fiscal 1965 (July 1964 to June 1965), before the intensification of the war, US national defence spending had decreased from 52.7 billion dollars to 48.6 billion dollars. However, spending increased to 55.9 billion dollars in fiscal 1966, to 69.1 billion dollars in fiscal 1967, and to 80.2 billion dollars in fiscal 1969. The major part of the increase in national defence spending after fiscal 1965 was due to ‘Special Support for Southeast Asia Operations’. This increase in national defence spending could also be seen as an increase in expenditure on the Vietnam War. Although only 103 million dollars was appropriated as Special Support for Southeast Asia Operations in the fiscal 1965 budget, that number rose sharply to 5.8 billion dollars in the budget for fiscal 1966. Furthermore, in fiscal 1967, this exceeded 20 billion dollars, and at its peak in 1969 rose to 28.8 billion dollars, accounting for 36% of the national spending, 16% of the federal budget and 3% of GDP (US Department Commerce 1975). Following the start of the withdrawal of US troops along with the end of the bombing of North Vietnam in 1969, war expenditures started gradually to shrink, decreasing to 9.4 billion dollars in 1972. At the time of the Korean War, national defence spending accounted for 12.5% of US GDP, of which 6–7% was actually spent directly on the Korean War. In contrast, national defence spending accounted for 9% of GDP during the Vietnam War, of which only 3% was expendi- ture for the Vietnam War. From the perspective of its ratio to US GDP, spending on the Vietnam War was only half that on the Korean War. However, the total amount of direct expenditure on the Korean War was 69 billion dollars, while that on the Vietnam War was 148.8 billion dollars. Expenditure on the Vietnam War largely exceeded that on the Korean War because the Vietnam War lasted longer and the scale was larger than the Korean War (US Department Commerce 1975). Needless to say, the occurrence of Vietnam-related procurement was based on the ‘Special Support for Southeast Asia Operations’ resulting from full-scale intervention in the Vietnam War by the US. Within ‘Special Support for Southeast Asia Operations’, overseas military spending, which the US army directly used for purchases of goods and services overseas, was distributed to South East Asian countries through (1) US army spending; (2) munitions goods 374 Park Keunho Table 1. American national defence budget and the Vietnam War Federal National Annual Defense Special Support for (Unit: Hundred Million Dollars) Spending Spending Southeast Asia Operations (A) (B) (C) C/A C/B 1964 1186 527 0% 0% 1965 1184 486 1 0% 0% 1966 1347 559 58 4% 10% 1967 1583 691 201 13% 29% 1968 1788 794 265 15% 33% 1969 1846 802 288 16% 36% 1970 1966 793 231 12% 29% 1971 2114 768 147 7% 19% 1972 2319 774 94 4% 12% 1973 2465 751 63 3% 8% 1974 2684 786 31 1% 4% 1975 3134 853 15 0% 2% (Source: US Department Commerce. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1975.) The Vietnam War and the ‘Miracle of East Asia’ 375 Figure 1. US Foreign Military Expenditure (Source: US Department of Commerce, Survey of Current Business, Feb. 1992, April 1975) supplied to US troops in Vietnam; and (3) spending by US soldiers on leave. When looking at this from an economic viewpoint, the effect of Vietnam-related procurement on South East Asian countries was extremely large. As Figure 1 shows, US foreign military expenditure rapidly increased after 1965, along with the development of the Vietnam War, from 2.95 billion dollars in 1965 to 3.76 billion dollars in 1966 and to 4.86 billion dollars in 1969. In line with this increase, US military expenditure in the Asian region increased sharply from about 1.1 billion dollars in 1965 to 1.8 billion dollars in 1966, 2.5 billion dollars in 1968, and to 2.7 billion dollars in 1969. The US government estimated its Vietnam-related procurement was about 1billion dollars in fiscal 1966, 1.5 billion dollars in fiscal 1967, 1.9 billion dollars in fiscal 1969, and totalling 10.8 billion dollars in the period between 1965 and 1972 (see Figure 1). When comparing the size of Vietnam-related procurement with the GNP of the countries around Vietnam, the ratio remained slightly less than 1% in 1965, but sharply increased in 1968 to 7.8% for Singapore, 4.7% for Thailand and 3.5% for Korea (Bank of Japan Research Department 1970: 4–7).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • America and Vietnam: the Unending War Author(S): George C. Herring Source: Foreign Affairs, Vol
    America and Vietnam: The Unending War Author(s): George C. Herring Source: Foreign Affairs, Vol. 70, No. 5, America and the Pacific, 1941-1991 (Winter, 1991), pp. 104-119 Published by: Council on Foreign Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20045006 Accessed: 04/05/2009 15:34 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cfr. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Council on Foreign Relations is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Foreign Affairs. http://www.jstor.org George C.
    [Show full text]
  • Jerry Lembcke
    THE SPITTING IMAGE THE SPITTING IMAGE MYTH, MEMORY, AND THE LEGACY OF VIETNAM Jerry Lembcke Consulting Editor: Harvey J. Kaye a New York University Press New York and London NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London Copyright ᭧ 1998 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lembcke, Jerry, 1943– The spitting image : myth, memory, and the legacy of Vietnam / Jerry Lembcke. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-8147-5146-6 1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961–1975—Veterans—United States. 2. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961–1975—Public opinion. 3. Public opinion— United States. I. Title. DS559.73.U6 L46 1998 959.704'3373—ddc21 98-9048 CIP New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America 10987654321 For Carolyn and Molly Del CONTENTS All illustrations appear as an insert following p. 92 Preface ix 1 Introduction: The Spitting Image 1 2 Yellow Ribbons and Spat-Upon Veterans: Making Soldiers the Means and Ends of War 11 • Reasoning about the War, 12 • Reason Abandoned: Toward War with Iraq, 16 • Against the Coalition against the War, 18 • Fighting the Vietnam Syndrome, 24 3 Dear Spiro Agnew: About Soldiers, Veterans, and the Anti-war Movement 27 • War Veterans and the Vietnam War, 29 • Veterans for Peace and the Fifth Avenue Peace Parade Committee, 30 • Veterans, Soldiers, and the Peace Movement Reach Out to One Another, 33 • Turning the Guns Around: GIs and Veterans against the War, 37 • The Moratorium Days of 1969, 44 4 The Nixon-Agnew Counteroffensive: ‘‘Good Veterans’’ vs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cold War and Vietnam Author(S): George C
    The Cold War and Vietnam Author(s): George C. Herring Source: OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 18, No. 5, Vietnam (Oct., 2004), pp. 18-21 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Organization of American Historians Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163717 Accessed: 03-11-2017 01:36 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Organization of American Historians, Oxford University Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to OAH Magazine of History This content downloaded from 65.19.74.53 on Fri, 03 Nov 2017 01:36:01 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms George C. Herring The Cold War and Vietnam Tlhe cold war and the American war in Vietnam cannot be ary and military assistance to the Viet Minh, heightening U.S. con disentangled. Had it not been for the cold war, the U.S., China, cerns. Recognition of the Viet Minh by China and the Soviet Union in and the Soviet Union would not have intervened in what would early 1950 settled the matter for American officials, revealing Ho Chi likely have remained a localized anticolonial struggle in French Minh, in Secretary of State Dean Acheson's words, in his "true colors Indochina.
    [Show full text]
  • The Vietnam Syndrome and the Conflict in Former Yugoslavia
    Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive Theses and Dissertations Thesis Collection 1996-12 The Vietnam Syndrome and the conflict in former Yugoslavia. Burdelez, Mislav. Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School http://hdl.handle.net/10945/31956 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS THE VIETNAM SYNDROME AND THE CONFLICT IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA • by Mislav Burdelez December 1996 Thesis Advisor: Roman Laba Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. ' REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved O:tv!B No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average I hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washingon headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0 188) Washington DC 20503. I. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES blank) December, 1996 COVERED Master's Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS THE VIETNAM SYNDROME AND THE CONFLICT IN FORlv:IER YUGOSLAVIA 6. AUTHOR Mislav Burdelez 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING Naval Postgraduate School ORGANIZATION Monterey CA 93943-5000 REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITOR lNG AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLBAENTAR Y NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Found, Featured, Then Forgotten: U.S. Network TV News and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War © 2011 by Mark D
    Found, Featured, then Forgotten Image created by Jack Miller. Courtesy of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Found, Featured, then Forgotten U.S. Network TV News and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War Mark D. Harmon Newfound Press THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE LIBRARIES, KNOXVILLE Found, Featured, then Forgotten: U.S. Network TV News and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War © 2011 by Mark D. Harmon Digital version at www.newfoundpress.utk.edu/pubs/harmon Newfound Press is a digital imprint of the University of Tennessee Libraries. Its publications are available for non-commercial and educational uses, such as research, teaching and private study. The author has licensed the work under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/. For all other uses, contact: Newfound Press University of Tennessee Libraries 1015 Volunteer Boulevard Knoxville, TN 37996-1000 www.newfoundpress.utk.edu ISBN-13: 978-0-9797292-8-7 ISBN-10: 0-9797292-8-9 Harmon, Mark D., (Mark Desmond), 1957- Found, featured, then forgotten : U.S. network tv news and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War / Mark D. Harmon. Knoxville, Tenn. : Newfound Press, University of Tennessee Libraries, c2011. 191 p. : digital, PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. [159]-191). 1. Vietnam Veterans Against the War—Press coverage—United States. 2. Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Protest movements—United States—Press coverage. 3. Television broadcasting of news—United States—History—20th century. I. Title. HE8700.76.V54 H37 2011 Book design by Jayne White Rogers Cover design by Meagan Louise Maxwell Contents Preface .....................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Vietnam Syndrome and Its Effects on the U.S. Public and Foreign and Domestic Policy Decisions During the Post-Vietnam Era Between 1975- 1991
    THE VIETNAM SYNDROME AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE U.S. PUBLIC AND FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICY DECISIONS DURING THE POST-VIETNAM ERA BETWEEN 1975-1991 by Kyle Giovannini A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in History Boise State University May 2020 © 2020 Kyle Giovannini ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS of the thesis submitted by Kyle Giovannini Thesis Title: The Vietnam Syndrome and Its Effects on the U.S. Public and Foreign and Domestic Policy Decisions During the Post-Vietnam Era Between 1975- 1991 Date of Final Oral Examination: 11 March 2020 The following individuals read and discussed the thesis submitted by student Kyle Giovannini and they evaluated their presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination. David Walker, Ph.D. Chair, Supervisory Committee Jill Gill, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee Nick Miller, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee The final reading approval of the thesis was granted by David Walker, Ph.D., Chair of the Supervisory Committee. The thesis was approved by the Graduate College. ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would first like to give my upmost thanks and appreciation to Boise State University and more specifically the Boise State History Department for allowing me to use their services and institution while writing this thesis. Next, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Jill Gill and Dr. Nick Miller, for their support, mentorship, and constructive criticisms that helped sculpt this thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Defence Forces Review 2013 Defence Forces Review 2013 Vol 10
    Colour: Cyan : Magenta : Yellow : Black Plate no. 1 Defence Forces Review 2013 Review Defence Forces Defence Forces Review 2013 Vol 10 Vol Printed by the Defence Forces Printing Press Jn12751 / Oct 2013 / 2000 www.military.ie Defence Forces Review 2013 ISSN 1649-7066 Published for the Military Authorities by the Public Relations Section at the Chief of Staff’s Branch, and printed at the Defence Forces Printing Press, Infirmary Road, Dublin 7 © Copyright in accordance with Section 56 of the Copyright Act, 1963, Section 7 of the University of Limerick Act, 1989 and Section 6 of the Dublin University Act, 1989. PREFACE Literature is always personal, always one man’s vision of the world, one man’s experience and it can only be popular when men are ready to welcome the visions of others. William Butler Yeats As Officer in Charge of the Defence Forces Public Relations Section, it is both a privilege and a pleasure to present the Defence Forces Review for 2013. This is a momentous occasion for all associated with this important Defence Forces publication as it marks the twentieth anniversary of the concept’s initial launch. Back in 1993, the compilation of articles succeeded in stimulating widespread discussion amongst its readers and fostering an already hungry appetite to broaden horizons and garner fresh opinion on a wide range of military topics. As the years progressed, the Review evolved to embrace subject matter across a broader military spectrum comprising welcome contributions from colleagues in the academic, corporate and diplomatic arenas. Currently, it serves as a forum to provide for and support continued intellectual expression, growth and debate across the wider Defence Community.
    [Show full text]
  • The Weinberger Said He Was Charting a the War Was Micromanaged from Means and the Determination to Prevail Course Between Two Extremes
    ong after the United States pulled In a campaign speech in 1980, presi- to achieve those objectives; (5) there out of Vietnam, the memory of dential candidate Ronald Reagan said, is reasonable assurance of support of the conflict hung over the nation “For too long, we have lived with the American people and Congress; and like a cloud. The armed forces Vietnam syndrome.” Moments later, (6) other options have been exhausted left 58,178 dead there in the first however, Reagan added that “there is before US forces are committed as a Lwar the US had ever lost—and which a lesson for all of us in Vietnam. If we last resort. the nation did not fight to win. are forced to fight, we must have the Weinberger said he was charting a The war was micromanaged from means and the determination to prevail course between two extremes. “The Washington, where political leaders— or we will not have what it takes to first—undue reserve—would lead us fearful of escalation that might draw in secure the peace. And while we are ultimately to withdraw from interna- China or the Soviet Union—imposed at it, let us tell those who fought in tional events that require free nations all sorts of crippling restrictions. The that war that we will never again ask to defend their interests from the ag- enemy operated from sanctuaries that young men to fight and possibly die gressive use of force,” he said. “The US forces were not allowed to strike. in a war our government is afraid to second alternative—employing our The conflict dragged on, prosecuted let them win.” forces almost indiscriminately and with varying intensity, until 1973 when Caspar Weinberger, nominated by as a regular and customary part of the US declared “peace with honor” Reagan to be Secretary of Defense, our diplomatic efforts—would surely and withdrew.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cultural Politics of Corporeal Patriotism and Visual Resistance
    The Other Vietnam Syndrome: The Cultural Politics of Corporeal Patriotism and Visual Resistance David Jansson Department of Social and Economic Geography Uppsala University, Box 513 75120 Uppsala, Sweden [email protected] Abstract This article argues that the emergence of the U.S. counterculture contemporaneously with the Vietnam antiwar movement produced a visual coding of antiwar thought and action as dirty, messy, and most of all ‘hippie’, as a result of the visual differences between the most visible elements of the movement and the U.S. mainstream. This coding of antiwar sentiment as visually Other was seized upon by the right as part of the process of remembering this era of U.S. history, and this visual coding has over time evolved into a ‘regime of visuality’ that delegitimizes opposition to war and introduces a kind of corporeal patriotism where one’s loyalty to the state can be measured by an evaluation of one’s appearance. Whereas the Vietnam syndrome was an expression of elite disdain for public opposition to ‘the use of force’ (i.e. military invasions), the other Vietnam syndrome (OVS) constitutes a regime of visuality that links visual deviance to opposition to war, with the intention of delegitimizing both and placing deviant- looking protesters outside the body of the ‘legitimate’ public. The article provides historical and theoretical overviews of the OVS and discusses implications for contemporary protest movements. Published under Creative Commons licence: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 2016, 15(2): 418-439 419 Introduction Visualize the movement against the Vietnam War.
    [Show full text]
  • Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome Narrative: Human Rights, the Nayirah Testimony, and the Gulf War
    Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome Narrative: Human Rights, the Nayirah Testimony, and the Gulf War Joseph Darda American Quarterly, Volume 69, Number 1, March 2017, pp. 71-92 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/652575 Access provided by University of Hawaii @ Manoa (30 Mar 2017 20:54 GMT) Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome Narrative | 71 Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome Narrative: Human Rights, the Nayirah Testimony, and the Gulf War Joseph Darda n December 10, 1990, with four hundred thousand American sol- diers readied for war along the Saudi–Kuwaiti border, George H. W. OBush issued a presidential proclamation designating December 10 as Human Rights Day. First recognized in 1949 by Harry Truman, Human Rights Day commemorates the UN General Assembly’s signing of the Uni- versal Declaration of Human Rights. Since Truman, acknowledging Human Rights Day with a proclamation has been a routine event every December for the sitting president. With a war on the horizon, Bush took the proclamation as an opportunity to situate the looming Gulf War in a human rights context. “In a world where human rights are routinely denied in too many lands,” he observed, “nowhere is that situation more tragic and more urgent today than in Kuwait.” Listing the atrocities reportedly committed by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait, Bush concluded, “As long as such assaults occur, as long as inhumane regimes deny basic human rights, our work is not done.”1 The Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait was not merely a threat to Kuwaiti sovereignty but also, Bush alleged, a threat to the sanctity of human rights everywhere.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cold War Consensus: Did It Exist?* Eugene R
    The Cold War Consensus: Did It Exist?* Eugene R. Wittkopf Louisiana State University James M. McCormick Iowa State University A bipartisan consensus about the means and ends of American foreign policy is generally thought to have been part of the American political environment during the Cold War era. This consensus is also commonly thought to have been a casualty of the Vietnam War, when disagreements arose about the threat of communism, the use of American troops abroad, and relations with the Soviet Union. This article uses public opinion data from the decades following World War II pertaining to these areas of assumed change to measure whether a consensus ever existed and whether it eroded in the wake of Vietnam. The authors conclude that evidence of change can be found but that it is less dramatic in some respects than might be expected. Eugene R. Wittkop/ is Professor of Political Science at Louisiana State University. He is author of Faces of Internationalism: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy and coauthor of American Foreign Policy: Pattern and Process. James M. McCormick is Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University. He is author of American Foreign Policy and American Values. Building domestic support for their foreign policy initiatives has been a primary concern of American policymakers throughout the post-World *The Chicago Council public opinion data were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political Research. Most of the remaining data came from Robert Y. Shapiro of Columbia University and the Harris archives of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
    [Show full text]
  • Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome? Collective Memory of the Vietnam War in Fictional American Cinema Following the 1991 Gulf War
    Ferguson, Laura E. (2011) Kicking the Vietnam syndrome? Collective memory of the Vietnam War in fictional American cinema following the 1991 Gulf War. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2672/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome? : Collective Memory of the Vietnam War in Fictional American Cinema Following the 1991 Gulf War Laura Elizabeth Ferguson BA(Hons) Media BA(Hons)(Open) Humanities with Literature and Philosophy PgCert Film Journalism Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of PhD Crichton Campus College of Arts University of Glasgow May 2011 © Laura Elizabeth Ferguson 2011 2 Abstract This thesis analyses the concept of the “Vietnam Syndrome” and its continuing manifestation in fictional American films produced after the 1991 Gulf War, with reference to depictions of the Vietnam, Gulf and Iraq Wars. Based on contemporary press reports as source material and critical analysis, it identifies the “Vietnam Syndrome” as a flexible and altering national psychological issue characterised initially as a simple aversion to military engagement, but which grew to include collective feelings of shame, guilt and a desire to rewrite history.
    [Show full text]