America, the Vietnam War, and the World
Comparative and International Perspectives

This volume presents perspectives on the Vietnam War, its global repercussions, and its role in modern history.

Andreas W. Daum (Edited by), Lloyd C. Gardner (Edited by), Wilfried Mausbach (Edited by)

9780521810487, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 July 2003

384 pages, 7 b/w illus.
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.9 cm, 0.658 kg

'… the editors have sought to promote new perspectives on the American war … provide a welcome antidote to the smothering 'Americanization' (p.6) of the conflict's historiography.' History

This book presents perspectives on the Vietnam War, its global repercussions, and the role of this war in modern history. The volume reveals 'America's War' as an international event that reverberated all over the world: in domestic settings of numerous nation-states, combatants and non-combatants alike, as well as in transnational relations and alliance systems. The volume thereby covers a wide geographical range - from Berkeley and Berlin to Cambodia and Canberra. The essays address political, military, and diplomatic issues no less than cultural and intellectual consequences of 'Vietnam'. The authors also set the Vietnam War in comparison to other major conflicts in world history; they cover over three centuries, and develop general insights into the tragedies and trajectories of military conflicts as phenomena of modern societies in general. For the first time, 'America's War' is thus depicted as a truly global event whose origins and characteristics deserve an interdisciplinary treatment.

Introduction: America's war and the world Andreas W. Daum, Lloyd C. Gardner and Wilfried Mausbach
Part I. Relocating Vietnam: Comparisons in Time and Space: 1. A colonial war in a postcolonial age: the United States's occupation of Vietnam Michael Adas
2. Visions of the Asian periphery: Vietnam (1964–8) and the Philippines (1898–1900) Fabian Hilfrich
3. The challenge of revolutions and the emergence of nation-states: British reactions to the foundation of the United States and American responses to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1780–1980 T. Christopher Jespersen
4. A comparative study of peripheral wars: the United States in Vietnam and Japan in China John Prados
5. The Panmunjom and Paris armistices: patterns of war termination Jeffrey Kimball
6. Versailles and Vietnam: coming to terms with war Sabine Behrenbeck
Part II. International Relations and the Dynamics of Alliance Politics: 7. Who paid for America's war? Vietnam and the international monetary system, 1960–75 Hubert Zimmerman
8. America isolated: the western powers and the escalation of the war Fredrick Logevall
9. Bamboo in the shadows: United States relations with Thailand during the Vietnam war Arne Kislenko
10. The strategic concerns of a regional power: Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war Peter Edwards
11. 'Peoples' warfare versus peaceful coexistence?' Vietnam and the Sino-Soviet struggle for ideological supremacy Eva-Maria Stolberg
Part III. Recasting Vietnam: Domestic Scenes and Discourses: 12. The center-left government in Italy and the escalation of the Vietnam war Leopoldo Nuti
13. Auschwitz and Vietnam: West German protest against America's war during the 1960s Wilfried Mausbach
14. The world peace council and the antiwar movement in east Germany Günter Wernicke
15. All power to the imagination! Antiwar activism and emerging feminism in the late 1960s Barbara Tischler
16. Vietnam: many wars? Lloyd C. Gardner
Index.

Subject Areas: Cultural studies [JFC], Vietnam War [HBWS2], Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000 [HBLW3], History of the Americas [HBJK], Asian history [HBJF], General & world history [HBG]