Topic > The Domino Theory: The Main Reason for Our Involvement in the Vietnam War

Some argue that the Domino Theory was the main reason for the United States' intervention in Asia because it stopped communist progress. The domino theory was the belief that communism spread from one nation to its neighbors and so on. It was based on an analogy of falling dominoes, popularized by Eisenhower in the 1950s and became widely accepted, partly supported by the Soviet-led Comintern, which promoted communism around the world. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in Da Nang as the first wave of U.S. combat troops in South Vietnam for the so-called purpose of containment and defense against communism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Others argue that it was a simplistic theory that failed to recognize that Asian communism was motivated as much by nationalism as by the drive for "world revolution"'. this theory is supported by Gabriel Kolko, he stated; “impossible, undesirable and dangerous for… any state to attempt to guide the development of another nation or region.” As America did in Vietnam with its intervention. The domino theory was supported by the belief that communism was an aggressive and expanding imperialism that would spread from one country to another, eventually dominating the world. The left-wing writer Noam Chomsky refers to this as the “threat of good example.” they feared that a Communist takeover of Vietnam would mean that the Communists would then take control of other Southeast Asian countries that could threaten U.S. allies such as the Philippines or Japan which had fallen to Communism in 1949 and l 'America had fought in Korea in 1950-53 to contain the spread of communism. This idea shaped the foreign policy of the United States and the West during the Cold War and the Vietnam War, particularly regarding Asia, President Eisenhower announced: “You lay out a row of dominoes, they topple the first one, and what will happen to the last one is a certainty that it will end very quickly. Eisenhower's announcement set the stage for US involvement in Vietnam, which was later emphasized by the then Under Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs. “It is generally agreed that if Indochina were to fall. Burma and Thailand would follow suit almost immediately.” This suggests that the domino theory played a significant role in Vietnam's initial involvement in the conflict. Therefore, the domino theory was an extremely significant reason for the US involvement in Vietnam since without the “threat” of communism through the domino theory, the Vietnam War would not have existed However, the ideas of America's international presence, European pressure and of war for profit were important. Andrew F. Krepinevich states that communism was a minor threat to American imperialism and that Vietnam in the 1960s was at the forefront of the movement led to greater involvement of the United States in the problems of Vietnam. After the defeat of the French the country split in two, the North was communist, led by Ho ChI Minh who wanted to conquer the south. In September 1945 Ho ChI Minh proclaimed Vietnam's independence from France. This was the beginning of a war that pitted the communist-led Vietminh regime in Hanoi against a French-backed regime in Saigon. Under President Harry S. Truman,.