Inventing Vietnam (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521888653)

This book considers the Vietnam war in light of U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam, concluding that the war was a direct result of failed state-building efforts. This U.S. nation building project began in the mid-1950s with the ambitious goal of creating a new independent, democratic, modern state below the 17th parallel. No one involved imagined this effort would lead to a major and devastating war in less than a decade. Carter analyzes how the United States ended up fighting a large-scale war that wrecked the countryside, generated a flood of refugees, and brought about catastrophic economic distortions, results which actually further undermined the larger U.S. goal of building a viable state. Carter argues that, well before the Tet Offensive shocked the viewing public in late January, 1968, the campaign in southern Vietnam had completely failed and furthermore, the program contained the seeds of its own failure from the outset.

Author: James M. Carter
ISBN-10: 0521888654
ISBN-13: 9780521888653
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/21/2008
Pages: 276
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 08/01/2008 pg. 17
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2008 pg. 59
Choice 04/01/2009