Ways Vietnam War and the Antiwar Movement Take Part of the Cold War

American History
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In what ways was the Vietnam War part of the Cold War?
The end of the Second World War marked the beginning of yet another struggle for power, influence, and recognition between the United States and USSR. The fight for world dominance through a show of power and influence, without direct conflict, between the two nations, came to be known as the Cold War. The two large countries emerged from World War II as superpowers, though the United States held an economic and military advantage over its Soviet counterpart. Differences between the two countries ranged from political ideologies, strategic interests, geographic presence, and relative power. The two nations represented different political and governance ideologies with the United States in support of capitalism while the Soviet Union being for communism. The U.S and the USSR both set out to expand their ideologies to other countries through expansive projects in the disguise of protecting their national interests.
The United States, in particular, adopted the George F. Kennan’s containment strategy to counter the communist expansion plans by the Soviet Union. China’s adoption of a communist regime and the failure of France to establish an imperialistic regime in Vietnam invited the United States’ containment strategy in Asia amidst fear of a growing communist East. A communist Asia in the eyes of the U.S administration was an expansion of the Soviet Union’s empire. The United States also adopted the Domino theory as its foreign policy in the 1950’s to contain the spread of communism in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. North Vietnam’s victory over the South was perceived by the United States as a communist win and a factor that would catalyze the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The Western economies led by the U.S saw it as a threat. President Truman’s effort to influence the outcomes of the French-Indochina War through the domino theory failed in its purpose, and with the precipitating communist sentiments in the East, military intervention by the U.S was inevitable. The Vietnam War was a desperate effort by the United States of America to create a balance of power against the USSR whose communist ideologies were gaining popularity in the East.
How did the antiwar movement represent a break with Cold War assumptions?
The Cold War assumptions from the United States’ end included its non-interference and non-intervention policy. The country would only act as a good neighbor to countries that needed to be shielded from the military influence of powerful countries like the USSR. It would provide the necessary resources to counter the spread of communism and its ideologies to other nations. The war in V...