“Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences” (Eisenhower).Without a doubt, the Vietnam War was a very consequential war in the United States, and the aftermath of this war had a major effect on Southeast Asia. These countries, especially Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam themselves, were affected the most significantly after the war. Through land destruction, the U.S. government’s aim towards the countries during the war, communism, and immigration, it is very clear that the aftermath of the Vietnam War was one of the most everlasting wars in history.
Land destruction in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam may be the least popular consequential effect in these Southeast Asian countries, but it is still very influential, especially since this factor is still causing problems today. The generation today is exposed to land once involved in the Vietnam War, and it has long-term effects.
“"More forests have been lost in Vietnam since the US/Vietnam war ended in 1975 than during it. Because of post-war lumbering operations (the rebuilding of 10 million homes,
Certainly, these long term effects definitely are destroying Vietnam today. In addition, bombing by the United States during the Vietnam War had a major effect on the environment. For example, between early 1965 and mid-1968, the U.S. fired a total of 11.3 million tons of munitions in all of Vietnam, which 1% of this country’s land was completely annihilated. The amount of herbicides also dumped into the forests of Vietnam was tremendous, also greatly affecting the land destruction in the country (greenleft.org.au). Definitely, the ecosystem was being destroyed during and even after the Vietnam War, and other countries, as the domino theory predicted, were affected by the war and specifically, by the environment. For example;
“..Some 80 million litres of herbicides were sprayed on the fields and forests of Vietnam, and an unknown amount on the countryside of Cambodia and Laos. Included in those chemicals as a by-product was dioxin, an extremely toxic substance that has been linked to several forms of
No doubt about it, Laos and Cambodia were immensely affected by the Vietnam War, environmentally. The domino theory proves to be correct once again through the U.S. government’s involvement in the downfall of these two countries.
During the war, the U.S. government always seemed to target Laos and Cambodia, even though both countries remained neutral during the time. Enlarging the war into Laos, The U.S. government wanted to put down the Pathet Lao insurgency, which was waging an intensifying war against a U.S.-installed, right-wing dictatorship in Laos. In addition, the government wanted to stop the flow of goods and supplies for the Vietnamese that were passing partly through Laos. As a result, “Between 1965 and 1973, the United Stated dropped more than two million tons of bombs on Laos, more than it had dropped on Germany and Japan in World War II” (
“In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, the country served as a transport route between North and South Vietnam. Because of Cambodia’s proximity to Vietnam, the Vietcong army set up bases there. Although Cambodia remained neutral during the war, the presence of these bases caused American military forces to bomb the country heavily, launching secret bombing campaigns beginning in 1969” (pbs.org).
These bombings by the United States lasted for six months, causing several hundred thousand people to die (pslweb.org). Of course, these experiences during the war eventually made their way to the aftermath of the Vietnam War, causing even more destruction of Vietnam to continue with Laos and Cambodia.
“The communist victory in Vietnam in 1975 was accompanied by similar communist successes in Laos and Cambodia” (countrystudies.us). Especially in Cambodia, the communist ideal was widely spread. The Khmer Rouge was a guerilla group driven by communist ideals that “killed nearly two million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979, spreading like a virus from the jungles until they controlled the entire country, only to systematically dismantle and destroy it in the name of a Communist agrarian ideal” (Fletcher). With the help of Pol Pot, this communist group killed more than 1.5 million Cambodians, which is about 15-20% of the country’s population. Along with that, hundreds of thousands of people were executed in the “killing fields,” money and property became worthless, and cities were evacuated and destroyed (pbs.org). Of course, Cambodia wasn’t the only country controlled by a communist government.
“Then on April 30, the Viet Cong took over Saigon; they quickly reunited North and South Vietnam into one country under the rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The last of the Indochinese dominos fell in Laos on December 2, 1975, when the King of Laos was forced to abdicate and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was proclaimed by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (Lao Communist Party). By the end of 1975, all three former French colonies became communist states” (Yang).
Without a doubt, since these Southeast Asian countries were taken over by communism, escape to America was perhaps the most popular idea among those people.
Since the United States was the leader of the non-Communist parties during the Cold War, along with the defeated party of the Vietnam War, it is very obvious why many refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos would escape to the U.S. (Yang). After the Vietnamese invasions in specifically Cambodia, many Cambodians escaped to refugee camps in Thailand, while an estimate of 100,000 escaped to the United States. Along with Laotians and Vietnamese refugees, they became “boat people,” which they crossed the sea in overcrowded and unsafe boats in search of a better life, and have deemed enemies of the state who've been expelled from their homeland (pbs.org). Undoubtedly, these Southeast Asians had a difficult journey to the United States, and their first years were also very crucial with discrimination, but still managed to make their own communities within the country. In fact, today still lies many refugees in the United States. For example, approximately 175,000 people of Cambodian descent lives in this country as of today (pbs.org). Indeed, it is evident that immigration was most likely one of the biggest influences of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnamese following the Vietnam War.
In conclusion, the aftermath of the Vietnam War had some long-lasting significant effects on the Southeast Asian countries of mainly Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Because of land destruction, the U.S. government’s aim towards the countries during the war, communism, and immigration, the domino theory is proven correct that once Vietnam falls apart, the others will as well. Although, these countries remain neutral within the U.S. today, with its aftermath towards Southeast Asia, the Vietnam War was certainly was one of the most enduring and prominent wars of all time.
Works Cited
Fletcher, Dan. “The Khmer Rouge.” Time Inc. 2009 Feb. 17. 31 May. 2010.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1879785,00.html
“Healing the Wounds of War.” www.nnn.se 31 May. 2010. http://www.nnn.se/environ.htm
“Laos and Cambodia.” Country Studies US 31 May. 2010.
http://countrystudies.us/vietnam/59.htm
“The Quotable Quotes of Dwight D. Eisenhower.” National Park Service 31 May. 2010.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/eise/quotes.htm
“Vietnam Online.” WGBH Educational Foundation 31 May. 2010.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/timeline/tl4.html#a
“Vietnam: war and the environment.” Green Left Weekly. 14 Jul. 1993. 31 May. 2010.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/6044
“War & Cambodia.” Independent Television Service 31 May. 2010.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/refugee/war_cambodia.html
Wilkerson, Travis. “Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia: A brief history of 'Enlarging the problem'.”
PSLweb.org 13 Oct. 2006. 31 May. 2010. http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5838&news_iv_ctrl=1042
Yang, Kou. “35 Years After the Vietnam War.” Asian American Press 29 April. 2010. 31 May.
2010. http://aapress.com/editorial/35-years-after-the-vietnam-war/
