The United States and Vietnam relations : 1975-2011

Abstract

From 1975 to 2011, the relationship between the United States and Vietnam changed from that of being foes to friends. At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the United States closed its Embassy and evacuated its personnel. Twenty-five years later, in 2010, U.S. carrier visited Vietnamese waters - an act of military cooperation, that demonstrated their relationship has changed.. The question is how did their relations come to this? This thesis will study the relationship between the United States and Vietnam from 1975 to 2011. It will examine this relevant thirty-five year period, and analyze each American leader in order to define the United States foreign policy towards Vietnam and analyze the factors that affected shifts in policies. This study will examine two time periods: the Post-Vietnam War period (from 1975 to 1989) and the Post-Cold War period (from 1989 to 2011), since the political regime dramatically changed from bipolar to unipolar, radically different from than during the cold war. This thesis will also assess the future of the U.S.-Vietnam relations, highlighting the major factors. . In the period between 1975 to 2011, the President was empowered by National Constitution to initiate foreign policy decisions as per their interest. However, after the tragedy of the Vietnam War, presidential power was constrained by American public opinion. In the Post- Vietnam War, the constraint for the U.S.-Vietnam relation was not only the congress and public opinion that opposed the Vietnam War, but it was also the U.S. détente policy and the Political regime of the period. In the Post-Cold War period, the focus of the bilateral relations shifted. Although the POW/MIA was a major issue for the U.S., starting from 1975, it was eventually surpassed by economic interests and security concerns. According to this, the future of U.S.-Vietnam relations and U.S. foreign policy was inspired by U.S. economic interests in Vietnam and containing the influence of China.