Aid under fire : nation building and the Vietnam War / Jessica Elkind.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elkind, Jessica Breiteneicher, 1976- author.

Series:

Studies in conflict, diplomacy, and peace

Studies in conflict, diplomacy and peace

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Operations Mission to Vietnam.

United States.

Nation-building--Vietnam (Republic).

Nation-building.

Technical assistance, American--Vietnam (Republic).

Technical assistance, American.

Intercultural communication--Vietnam (Republic)--Case studies.

Intercultural communication.

Military assistance, American--Vietnam (Republic).

Military assistance, American.

Economic assistance, American--Vietnam (Republic).

Economic assistance, American.

International relations.

Economic conditions.

Vietnam (Republic)--Politics and government.

Vietnam (Republic).

Politics and government.

Vietnam (Republic)--Economic conditions.

United States--Foreign relations--Vietnam (Republic).

Vietnam (Republic)--Foreign relations--United States.

Diplomatic relations.

Economic history.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

294 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2016]

Summary:

"In the aftermath of World War II, as longstanding empires collapsed and former colonies struggled for independence, the US employed new diplomatic tools to counter challenges to its interests across the globe. Among the most important new strategies was development assistance-the attempt to strengthen alliances by providing technology, financial aid, and administrators to fledgling states in order to disseminate and inculcate American practices in local populations. While the US implemented development programs in several nations, nowhere were these policies more significant than in Vietnam. In Aid Under Fire, Jessica Elkind examines US nation-building efforts in the South Vietnamese state during the decade before the ground war. Based on archival sources and interviews with aid workers, this study demonstrates how the official US aid agency as well as several nongovernmental organizations implemented nearly every component of nonmilitary assistance given to South Vietnam, including public and police administration, agricultural development, education, and public health. Despite the sincerity of American efforts, most Vietnamese citizens understood them to be little more than a continuation of attempts by foreign powers to dominate their homeland. Elkind argues that, instead of reexamining their core assumptions or their approach as violence in the region escalated, US policymakers and aid workers only strengthened their commitment to nation building, increasingly modifying their goals to support counterinsurgency efforts. Aid Under Fire highlights the important role played by nonstate actors in advancing US policies and reveals in stark terms the limits of American power and influence during the period widely considered to be the apex of US supremacy in the world."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: building South Vietnam

"The Virgin Mary is going south": refugee resettlement in South Vietnam

Civil servants and cold warriors: technical assistance in public administration

Sowing the seeds of discontent: American agricultural-development programs in South Vietnam

Policing the insurgency: police administration and internal security in South Vietnam

Teaching loyalty: Educational development and the strategic hamlet program

Conclusion: "Ears of stone."

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-278) and index.

ISBN:

9780813165837

0813165830

OCLC:

922631599