Hello Vietnam, but Why? On the Politics of Financing a Perpetual War

Abstract The Vietnam War was usually studied as a political controversy, and its economic properties were largely glossed over. This paper seeks to contrast with such popular conceptions by presenting the war primarily from an economic perspective. To avoid presenting reductionist accounts, a transdisciplinary approach is adopted by combining insights from history, politics, sociology, and international relations under the overall framework of international political economy. By first comparing macroeconomic conditions — under Keynesian interpretations — with biographical evidence of American war leaders, this paper presents economic considerations as an integral underpinning for the United States' deliberate escalation of the war in 1965. A Marxian analysis was then conducted to study the real wealth transfer during the war, concluding that Europeans supported the United States' wartime prosperity in actuality. Finally, to explain how Nixon conducted American withdrawal from Vietnam without jeopardising previous designs, the socio-economic roles of the American military-industrial complex were articulated; this was done by juxtaposing the geographical relocation of America's armament industry to the South with the Republican 'Southern strategy' under contemporary racial politics. These suggest how war as a global issue pertains explanations beyond compartmentalised and linear accounts, while also highlighting inherent war-making incentives in American democracy under the current world order. Keywords: Vietnam War, War Studies, Military History, International Political Economy, Political Realignment