THOMPSON : Peace is not at hand (fülszöveg)
The American Position in the Post-Vietnam World and the Strategic Weakening of the West
Against the background of the Vietnam War, SIR ROBERT THOMPSON, a leading expert in counter-insurgency warfare and one-time head of the British Advisory Mission to Vietnam, examines the newly uncertain role of the United States in the contemporary world.
In his analysis of the Vietnamese military situation up to the time of the departure of the American troops, Sir Robert, who engineered the British victory over Communist guerrillas in Malaya, explores the changing relation between the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong and examines the transformation of a guerrilla to a conventional war. Sir Robert shows how the Communists ignored all peace feelers as long as they had a potent army. Only when they were virtually defeated in the field did they come to Paris, gambling – correctly, as it proved – that the Americans would prefer a negotiated stalemate to a military victory. The American withdrawal occurred when the Communist forces were in their weakest and most confused condition since the beginning of the war.
Sir Robert contends that the American withdrawal and the unenforceable ceasefire agreement, both largely the result of pressure from the public and the media, have seriously damaged America's international credibility with friends and enemies alike. American behavior in Vietnam has introduced a new variable to international relations. After the United States has abandoned one campaign, the depth of its commitment in other areas – notably the Middle East – comes into greater question.
The very existence of this uncertainty, Sir Robert suggests, encourages hostile powers to test American resolve. And with each test comes the threat of a devastating nuclear exchange. The price of a premature and unworkable settlement in Vietnam has proved to be continuing war in that country and greater instability throughout the world.
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
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