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Essay Instructions: During the 1950's Korean war how was North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea) used and taken advantage of by the super powers of the time America, China, Russia to further their own agenda.

Some sub topics that could be used.
Political agenda
Ego's
Economy's
Ulterior motives
Arms
Military use
Proxy war

Essay Instructions: As your reading and Discussions point out, one of the biggest issues that citizens and politicians confronted during the 1960s was the Cold War, which might be defined as the geopolitical tensions, and proxy wars fought between the United States and the Soviet Union. Indeed, for anyone who grew up during the 1950s, 60s, or 70s, the Cold War was a household topic everyone seemed to understand.
Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze how people understand the Cold War today. For example, what do everyday people today think of when they hear the term ?Cold War?? This is what you are going to find out!
In this assignment, you will do brief interviews with three people, asking them about their conceptions of the Cold War. Your interviewees can be anyone of your choosing: family members, friends, and so on. Below are some suggested questions that you may want to ask:
1. What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the term Cold War?
2. Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are some aspects of the Cold War that you remember?
3. Who were the parties involved in the Cold War?
4. Can you name any key events that we mainly associate with the Cold War?
Take notes on what each of your respondents say. You will need these notes to refer to later when you do the formal write-up of the assignment.
After you have completed the assignment, write up your findings in a brief essay, which addresses the following:
1. Using quotes from your interviews, describe how each of your three respondents understand the Cold War.
2. Explain to what extent their definition/understanding of the Cold War differs from the definition above (see the bold typeface in the Overview section above).
3. If your respondents? understanding of the Cold War is different from the way the Cold War is defined in this course, explain why that might be the case. (Also, if their definition of the Cold War is very similar, explain this as well!)

Essay Instructions: 1)Short Answer Essay One(1page)
In a short essay briefly identify four of the reasons cited by the U.S. government for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War as stated by any of the presidents involved and indicate briefly what was meant by each of the reasons. Students may draw on the Kissinger introductory chapter, and the inaugural addresses of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. The Kennedy Senate speech from 1956 is also relevant.
*book: kissinger, henry- Ending the Vietnam War, Foreword and Chapter One, "America's Entry into the Morass" (1950-1969)

2)Short Anwer Essay Two (Professor Whiteley will choose two from this list on Michael Lind)-1page
*According to Lind what was the consequence of Presidents Johnson and Nixon defending America's Cold War credibility in Vietnam?
*According to Lind identify three reasons why Lyndon Johnson made the appropriate strategic decisions in 1964-1965.
*According to Lind, identify three lessons of the American failure in Vietnam.
*According to Lind, what lesson does the Vietnam War hold for American domestic politics?
*How will the Vietnam War be considered a generation or two from now? Formulate your answer after reading Lind's answer to this same question on page 284 of his excerpt.
3)main essay-1page
Why did President Johnson choose to Americanize the war in Vietnam?
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The Thinking of Michael Lind this is an elaboration of the Lind question above with the answers.


i) According to Lind what was the consequence of Presidents Johnson and Nixon defending America's Cold War credibility in Vietnam? (pp. 256-258)
ans.: An erosion of America's Cold War consensus
ii) According to Lind identify three reasons why Lyndon Johnson made the appropriate strategic decisions in 1964-1965. (pp. 258-262)
ans.:

Johnson was right to reject withdrawal in 1964-65 because of the effects that a retreat at that moment would have had on America's global military and diplomatic reputation
Johnson was right to reject the phony alternative of neutralization.
Johnson was right to reject the strategic alternatives of an invasion of North Vietnam.
iii) According to Lind, identify two lessons of the American failure in Vietnam. (p. 264)
ans.:
The United States, whether it is the hegemonic global power or merely one of several great powers, must learn how to help its allies prevail in low-intensity civil wars and interstate wars.
The United States must do this without testing the culturally imposed limits of American public tolerance for American casualties.
The United States needs small, well-trained, highly professional armed forces that are willing to able to police the violent frontiers of the American alliance system.
iv) According to Lind, what lesson does the Vietnam War hold for American domestic politics? (p 271) ans.: The importance of preserving American public support for both grand strategy and military tactics.
v) How will the Vietnam War be considered a generation or two from now? Formulate your answer after reading Lind's answer to this same question on page 284.
ans.: The essence of this question is to formulate your answer after considering Lind's answer. Lind's answer has the following elements:

The Vietnam war was a just, constitutional, and necessary proxy war in the Third World.
The Vietnam War was waged by methods that were often counterproductive and sometimes arguably immoral.
The Vietnam War had to be fought in order to preserve the military and diplomatic credibility of the United States in the Cold War.
When the costs of the Vietnam War grew excessive, the war had to be forfeited in order to preserve the political consensus within the United States in favor of the Cold War.
The Vietnam War was neither a mistake nor a betrayal nor a crime. It was a military defeat.

The importance of Lind is that he challenges the opinion of many writers but does address important questions.
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