My column today presents to the world public about the Vietnam War and the extent of American interference in it up to the present around the world. Specifically, this column concerns the long-ago war in Vietnam and its victory. This coincides with the commemoration in this country (with a nine-day holiday, from late April to early May 2026, as I got the information from a friend of mine from Vietnam last week. This column consists of three parts.
From Colonial Ruins to Cold War Battleground: The Vietnam War did not begin suddenly in 1955. It emerged from the long shadow of colonialism and the geopolitical anxieties of the Cold War. After nearly a century of French domination, Vietnam’s struggle for independence culminated in the defeat of France at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, leading to the Geneva Accords and the temporary division of the country along the 17th parallel (Logevall, 2012; Duiker, 1995). This division, intended to be temporary, became permanent as ideological tensions hardened between the communist North and the anti-communist South.
At its core, the early phase of the Vietnam conflict represented two competing visions of national identity. The North, led by Ho Chi Minh, sought reunification under a socialist framework. They drew legitimacy from anti-colonial nationalism (Duiker, 2000). Meanwhile, South Vietnam, supported by the United States, attempted to construct a non-communist state aligned with Western democratic ideals. However, the South’s internal weaknesses—corruption, political repression, and lack of popular legitimacy—undermined its stability from the outset (Karnow, 1997).
The United States entered the Vietnamese stage not merely as an ally, but as a global actor driven by Cold War logic. The “domino theory,” which posited that the fall of one Southeast Asian nation to communism would trigger a regional cascade. This became a central justification for American involvement (Herring, 2002). In this context, Vietnam was no longer just a local conflict. Rather, it became a symbolic battleground between competing global ideologies.
By the late 1950s, insurgency in the South intensified. The formation of the National Liberation Front (NLF), commonly known as the Viet Cong. It marked a turning point, as guerrilla warfare began to challenge the authority of the South Vietnamese government (Lawrence, 2008). This insurgency was not merely externally imposed but deeply rooted in local grievances, including land inequality and political exclusion.
American involvement gradually increased from advisory roles and financial aid to deeper military engagement as South Vietnam weakened. Under John F. Kennedy, the rise in military advisors reflected a stronger commitment to stopping communism, though this gradual approach concealed an expanding conflict that soon escalated.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident marked a turning point, justifying direct U.S. military action despite disputed details. More broadly, the war exposed a paradox: while the U.S. claimed to defend freedom, it backed unstable regimes, whereas North Vietnam combined nationalism with authoritarian communism. By 1964, misunderstandings of Vietnam’s context and Cold War thinking ensured escalation, transforming a post-colonial struggle into a major twentieth-century war.
Dr. Djuwari is a scholar who received an Award of Peace and Humanity from the World United Humanitarian Organization (UHO), based in the UK, in 2026. The President of the International Association of Scholarly Publishers, Editors, and Reviewers (IASPER) lives in Surabaya, Indonesia
###
