Cold War Clash: Vietnam and Beyond

📋 Course Outline

1. Cold War rivalry and containment strategy
2. Domino theory and US justification in Vietnam
3. Vietnam War actors and opposing sides
4. US presidents and escalation of involvement
5. Draft, conscription resistance and lottery selection
6. Military shifts: Gulf of Tonkin and Tet
7. Asymmetric warfare, technology and chemical weapons
8. Tet Offensive impact on US public opinion
9. Vietnamization, Paris Peace Accords and US withdrawal
10. Fall of Saigon and communist reunification
11. Media coverage and changing US opinions
12. Anti-war protests and key social actors

📖 1. Cold War rivalry and containment strategy

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Cold War: Cold War is the restricted rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies that lasted from 1947 to 1991.
• Western bloc: Western bloc is the group of allies aligned with the United States during the Cold War rivalry.
• Eastern bloc: Eastern bloc is the group of allies aligned with the Soviet Union during the Cold War rivalry.
• Peripheral conflicts: Peripheral conflicts are regional wars where the superpowers back opposing sides instead of fighting each other directly.
• Containment strategy: Containment strategy is a U.S. foreign policy aimed at stopping the spread of communism associated with the USSR.

📝 Essential Points