Cold War Files: All Units: Activities: Additional Questions for Discussion

1. Why was Vietnam on the international stage?
   
   
2. How did the war effect Vietnam politically, physically, socially, economically, etc.?
   
   
3. What initially was the U.S. strategy in the war (based on the CIA document)? What were the objectives? What strategies were used to accomplish them?
   
   
4. How did the war in Vietnam affect the U.S. homefront?
   
   
5. In the United States, what were the foreign policy, legal, and political changes that resulted from the Vietnam War?
   
   
6. Why did the American attitude towards Ho Chi Minh change from that of an ally to an enemy?
   
   
7. Why did Diem become unpopular in Vietnam?
   
   
8. Why did the government in South Vietnam unsuccessful in creating a sense of legitimacy?
   
   
9. Given that many historians argue that the Vietnam War was a mistake, why do you think the United States got involved?
   
   
10. Imagine that you were drafted in 1964, would you go? And imagine if you were drafted in 1970, would you go?
    
    
11. Should the United States support regimes that lack popular support? Why or why not?
    
    
12. Were the Viet Minh principally motivated by nationalism or the international communist struggle?
    
    
13. How was American Vietnam policy informed by its Korean War experience?