Argument Without End In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy

by McNamara, Robert S.; Blight, James G.; Brigham, Robert K.; Biersteker, Thomas J.; Schandler, Colonel Herbert

• ISBN13: 9781891620874
• ISBN10: 1891620878
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-19
• Publisher: PublicAffairs

Summary

The former Secretary of Defense, and leading scholars from the U.S. and Vietnam, offer a groundbreaking new study of exactly how the Vietnam War happened-- and why it could not be stopped before three million people died.

Author Biography

Robert S. McNamara was Secretary of Defense to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, 1961–1968. James G. Blight is professor of international relations (Research), Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, Brown University. Robert K. Brigham is associate professor of history, and director of the Program in International Relations, Vassar College. Thomas J. Biersteker is director, Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, and Henry Luce Professor of Transnational Organizations, Brown University. Colonel Herbert Y. Schandler (USA Ret.) is professor in the Department of Grand Strategy, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Biographical Sketches of Participants in the U.S.-Vietnamese Dialogue	xiii
Maps	xxiv
The Theme and Structure of the Book	1	(20)
Enemies: Washington's and Hanoi's Mindsets by January 1961	21	(40)
The Evolution of Washington's and Hanoi's Mindsets, 1945--1960	61	(38)
A Neutral Solution: Was it Possible?	99	(52)
Escalation: 1961--1965	151	(68)
Negotiating Initiatives, 1965--1967: Why Did They Fail?	219	(94)
U.S. Military Victory in Vietnam: A Dangerous Illusion?	313	(60)
Learning from Tragedy: Lessons of Vietnam for the Twenty-First Century	373	(26)
Appendix A Additions to History: Corrections to the Historical Record, 1945--1968	399	(10)
Appendix B Three Alternative U. S. Strategies in Vietnam: A Reexamination Based on New Chinese and Vietnamese Sources	409	(12)
Appendix C Participants in ``The Vietnam War Reexamined: Its History and Lessons,'' a Conference in Bellagio, Italy, July 27--31, 1998	421	(2)
Notes	423	(32)
Photograph credits	455	(2)
Acronyms	457	(2)
Acknowledgments	459	(4)
Index	463