The Study Of The Relationship Between Britain And The Strategic Hamlet Program In Vietnam

The Second Indochina War that we usually refer to the Vietnam War caused a huge impact on the pattern of international relations in Southeast Asia. After the Geneva Conference in 1954, Vietnam had been split into Northern and Southern. Ngo Dinh Diem, who is the leader of the Republic of Vietnam, brutally suppressed communists in South Vietnam with the assistance of West. Because of Diem’s brutal rule, the situation in South Vietnam changed in the late 1950s. The general public and the cadres sent by North Vietnam carried out sporadic resistance to Diem. U.S. and South Vietnam called these resistances as Subversion. In 1961, Kennedy stepped into White House. He took a series of new policies in South Vietnam. The most important policy was Strategic Hamlet Program, which was learned from British experiences. The study of Strategic Hamlet Program is a significant section in the Vietnam War studies. As far as U.S.-Vietnam relations, Strategic Hamlet Program can be a glimpse of fundamental differences between the two sides, as well as to explore the American’s dilemma in the nation-building in South Vietnam. From the perspective of international relations, you can explore the complicated interest games involved Vietnam, Indochina even Southeast Asian issues among British, American and Vietnamese by the method of mutual certifications of multilateral archives.The dissertation tries to reaffirm the related facts by the method of mutual certifications of multilateral archives. Drawing on the multilateral archival sources and an interpretation from multi angles, this paper tries to hackle the history of the strategic hamlets in Vietnam. While discussing broad historical background of the strategic hamlets, for example the post-war British foreign policy towards Indochina and Vietnam, the paper will give an detailed interpretation of the origin and development of the strategic hamlets, the formation and adjustment of the British Advisory Groups, the implementation of the strategic hamlets program as well as the change of the British policy towards South Vietnam. Thus we are able to go deeper into the relations between UK and the strategic hamlets program. As a case study, the paper will also investigate the British foreign policy in Southeast Asia before the escalation of the Vietnam War. Specially, the dissertation is divided into four charters. The first chapter discusses the Cold War gradually extended from Europe to Asia. The United States and Britain tried to contain the expansion of Communist forces in Indochina. British counterinsurgency experiences become the model of pacification in South Vietnam. The main problem in the second chapter concerns Britain’s active involvement of pacification in South Vietnam. The government of UK eventually confirmed the policy of "blind eye " to the actions of American and assistance to South Vietnam. The third chapter discusses that Britain faced the criticism of the U.S. and changes in proposals of U.K. by the government of South Vietnam with a compromised attitude. Despite the initial success in Strategic Hamlet Program, White hall has always worried about that political disadvantages of South Vietnam will affect the implementation of counter-insurgency policies. The British policy to South Vietnam starts to vary because of these worries. The forth chapter focuses on the failure of Strategic Hamlet Program led to the downfall of Diem. In view of the deteriorating counter-insurgency situation in South Vietnam and the Confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia, the British government decided to withdraw from Vietnam, retaining only the police advisers to show support for the U.S. and South Vietnam.The conclusion of this dissertation believes that only inspect historical facts in the long period can we be able to understand the complicated relationship between Britain and the origins of Strategic Hamlet Program. In details, in the period of the origins of Strategic Hamlet Program, the British government had a profound effect on the formation of its concept and the building of its basic framework, with the clever use of rich experiences in counterinsurgency, complicated multilateral relationship and skillful diplomacy. White hall made some diplomatic achievements in containing communist’s expansion, improving relations of Anglo-U.S. and the support of the U.S. in Konfrontasi. The Britain’s involvement of pacification in South Vietnam, however, exposed some significant differences in the concept of pacification between the U.K. and the U.S. British influence gradually weakened in the implementation of Strategic Hamlet Program because of the resistance of South Vietnam, the corporation of the U.S. and South Vietnam, the fetters of Konfrontasi and the irreconcilable conflicts in pacification between Anglo-U.S. Britain’s coexistence of positive and compromised policy orientation further highlights the British diplomatic dilemma in the process of international relations in Southeast Asia during the Cold War.